First Busey (BUSE) Competitors

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, media sentiment, community ranking and analyst recommendations.

Is UBSI or BUSE a better dividend stock?

United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. United Bankshares pays out 54.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 50.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. United Bankshares has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to UBSI or BUSE?

In the previous week, United Bankshares and United Bankshares both had 9 articles in the media. United Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat First Busey's score of 0.79 indicating that United Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
United Bankshares	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in UBSI or BUSE?

70.8% of United Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of United Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of First Busey shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend UBSI or BUSE?

United Bankshares currently has a consensus price target of $41.88, indicating a potential upside of 32.31%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.80, indicating a potential upside of 44.72%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than United Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer UBSI or BUSE?

First Busey received 110 more outperform votes than United Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.30% of users gave First Busey an outperform vote while only 46.46% of users gave United Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
United Bankshares	Outperform Votes 269 46.46%	Underperform Votes 310 53.54%
First Busey	Outperform Votes 379 54.30%	Underperform Votes 319 45.70%

Is UBSI or BUSE more profitable?

United Bankshares has a net margin of 22.94% compared to First Busey's net margin of 17.14%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.94% beat United Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bankshares	22.94%	7.60%	1.24%
First Busey	17.14%	8.94%	1.00%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, UBSI or BUSE?

United Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. First Busey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Bankshares, 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
United Bankshares	$1.03B	4.40	$373M	$2.74	11.55
First Busey	$461.45M	2.37	$113.69M	$1.97	9.75

Which has more volatility & risk, UBSI or BUSE?

United Bankshares has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Bankshares beats First Busey on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.