Towne Bank (TOWN) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment and dividends.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in BUSE or TOWN?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.0% of Towne Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Towne Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is BUSE or TOWN more profitable?

Towne Bank has a net margin of 16.49% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. Towne Bank's return on equity of 8.99% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%
Towne Bank	16.49%	8.99%	1.12%

Is BUSE or TOWN a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Towne Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. 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. Towne Bank pays out 47.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Towne Bank has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend BUSE or TOWN?

First Busey presently has a consensus price target of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 16.96%. Towne Bank has a consensus price target of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.77%. Given Towne Bank's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Towne Bank is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Towne Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Does the media favor BUSE or TOWN?

In the previous week, First Busey and First Busey both had 2 articles in the media. Towne Bank's average media sentiment score of 0.33 beat First Busey's score of -0.56 indicating that Towne Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Negative
Towne Bank	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility & risk, BUSE or TOWN?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Towne Bank has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, BUSE or TOWN?

Towne Bank has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. Towne Bank 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	3.14	$113.69M	$1.12	20.87
Towne Bank	$1.03B	2.46	$161.76M	$2.30	14.64

Summary

Towne Bank beats First Busey on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.