Republic Bancorp (RBCAA) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends and risk.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, BUSE or RBCAA?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Republic Bancorp. Republic Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$663.36M	3.29	$113.69M	$1.07	22.77
Republic Bancorp	$505.64M	2.99	$101.37M	$6.07	12.78

Which has more risk & volatility, BUSE or RBCAA?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BUSE or RBCAA a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. First Busey pays out 93.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Republic Bancorp pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years.

Do analysts rate BUSE or RBCAA?

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 13.57%. Republic Bancorp has a consensus price target of $69.00, suggesting a potential downside of 11.02%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Republic Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Republic Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do institutionals & insiders believe in BUSE or RBCAA?

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 56.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is BUSE or RBCAA more profitable?

Republic Bancorp has a net margin of 22.94% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. Republic Bancorp's return on equity of 11.92% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%
Republic Bancorp	22.94%	11.92%	1.73%

Does the media favor BUSE or RBCAA?

In the previous week, First Busey had 10 more articles in the media than Republic Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for First Busey and 5 mentions for Republic Bancorp. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.26 beat Republic Bancorp's score of 0.20 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Republic Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

First Busey beats Republic Bancorp on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.