SMBK vs. BUSE, CCNE, EFSC, FFBC, FMBH, IBCP, MBWM, OCFC, TOWN, and OBK
Should you be buying SmartFinancial stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of SmartFinancial include First Busey (BUSE), CNB Financial (CCNE), Enterprise Financial Services (EFSC), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), First Mid Bancshares (FMBH), Independent Bank (IBCP), Mercantile Bank (MBWM), OceanFirst Financial (OCFC), Towne Bank (TOWN), and Origin Bancorp (OBK).
SmartFinancial vs. Its Competitors
SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.
SmartFinancial has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.
SmartFinancial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. SmartFinancial pays out 13.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 89.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SmartFinancial has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
In the previous week, First Busey had 7 more articles in the media than SmartFinancial. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Busey and 1 mentions for SmartFinancial. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.03 beat SmartFinancial's score of -0.25 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than SmartFinancial. SmartFinancial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
SmartFinancial currently has a consensus price target of $38.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.81%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 21.64%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than SmartFinancial.
58.8% of SmartFinancial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of SmartFinancial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
SmartFinancial has a net margin of 12.67% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.76% beat SmartFinancial's return on equity.
Summary
First Busey beats SmartFinancial on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding SMBK and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NASDAQ:SMBK) was last updated on 10/19/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff