S&T Bancorp (STBA) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, earnings and risk.

Is BUSE or STBA more profitable?

S&T Bancorp has a net margin of 23.39% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. S&T Bancorp's return on equity of 9.32% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%
S&T Bancorp	23.39%	9.32%	1.35%

Does the media prefer BUSE or STBA?

In the previous week, First Busey had 7 more articles in the media than S&T Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for First Busey and 3 mentions for S&T Bancorp. S&T Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.80 beat First Busey's score of 1.77 indicating that S&T Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
S&T Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, BUSE or STBA?

S&T Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Busey. S&T 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	3.31	$113.69M	$1.12	21.99
S&T Bancorp	$384.51M	3.93	$131.26M	$3.41	11.55

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in BUSE or STBA?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, BUSE or STBA?

First Busey has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, S&T Bancorp has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer BUSE or STBA?

First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 10.98%. S&T Bancorp has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.60%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than S&T 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
S&T Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is BUSE or STBA a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. S&T Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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. S&T Bancorp pays out 39.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and S&T Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Summary

S&T Bancorp beats First Busey on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.