WSBC vs. BUSE, FFBC, FRME, HWC, OBK, PPBI, STBA, TCBK, TOWN, and UBSI
Should you be buying WesBanco stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of WesBanco include First Busey (BUSE), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), First Merchants (FRME), Hancock Whitney (HWC), Origin Bancorp (OBK), Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), S&T Bancorp (STBA), TriCo Bancshares (TCBK), Towne Bank (TOWN), and United Bankshares (UBSI). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
WesBanco vs. Its Competitors
WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk and analyst recommendations.
In the previous week, WesBanco had 4 more articles in the media than First Busey. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for WesBanco and 7 mentions for First Busey. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.41 beat WesBanco's score of 0.39 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
WesBanco has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. WesBanco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
WesBanco has a net margin of 10.52% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.46% beat WesBanco's return on equity.
WesBanco has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.
WesBanco currently has a consensus target price of $38.71, indicating a potential upside of 17.18%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 14.42%. Given WesBanco's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe WesBanco is more favorable than First Busey.
61.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of WesBanco shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. WesBanco pays out 96.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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. WesBanco has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
WesBanco beats First Busey on 14 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 WSBC 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:WSBC) was last updated on 7/9/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff