S&T Bancorp (STBA) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, BUSE or STBA?

First Busey has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, S&T Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of 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 insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by 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 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%

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 4.5%. S&T Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. 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 increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and S&T Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend BUSE or STBA?

First Busey presently has a consensus price target of $27.17, suggesting a potential upside of 21.82%. S&T Bancorp has a consensus price target of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.42%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly 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

Does the media refer more to BUSE or STBA?

In the previous week, S&T Bancorp had 6 more articles in the media than First Busey. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for S&T Bancorp and 4 mentions for First Busey. S&T Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.17 beat First Busey's score of -0.31 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	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
S&T Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, 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	2.99	$113.69M	$1.12	19.91
S&T Bancorp	$564.96M	2.47	$131.26M	$3.41	10.67

Summary

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