WABC vs. BUSE, CATY, CTBI, FFBC, FRME, OBK, PPBI, STBA, TOWN, and UBSI
Should you be buying Westamerica Bancorporation stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Westamerica Bancorporation include First Busey (BUSE), Cathay General Bancorp (CATY), Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), First Merchants (FRME), Origin Bancorp (OBK), Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), S&T Bancorp (STBA), Towne Bank (TOWN), and United Bankshares (UBSI). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
Westamerica Bancorporation vs. Its Competitors
First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.
First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. 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. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 36.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend for 34 consecutive years.
First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 14.22%. Westamerica Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $52.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.40%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Westamerica Bancorporation.
First Busey has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Westamerica Bancorporation has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Busey. Westamerica Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Westamerica Bancorporation has a net margin of 44.10% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. Westamerica Bancorporation's return on equity of 14.95% beat First Busey's return on equity.
In the previous week, First Busey had 3 more articles in the media than Westamerica Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Busey and 3 mentions for Westamerica Bancorporation. Westamerica Bancorporation's average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat First Busey's score of 0.41 indicating that Westamerica Bancorporation is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Westamerica Bancorporation beats First Busey on 11 of the 19 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 WABC 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:WABC) was last updated on 7/9/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff