First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) versus First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Head-To-Head Analysis

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

First Busey has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Business Financial Services has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Business Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Busey pays out 87.0% 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 Business Financial Services pays out 19.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and First Business Financial Services has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Busey and First Business Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0	4	3	0	2.43
First Business Financial Services	0	0	4	0	3.00

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $26.33, suggesting a potential upside of 5.93%. First Business Financial Services has a consensus price target of $60.67, suggesting a potential upside of 5.93%. Given First Business Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Business Financial Services is more favorable than First Busey.

Profitability

This table compares First Busey and First Business Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	11.00%	9.05%	1.11%
First Business Financial Services	18.55%	14.89%	1.24%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.1% of First Business Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of First Business Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Busey and First Business Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$663.36 million	3.31	$113.69 million	$1.15	21.62
First Business Financial Services	$262.38 million	1.82	$44.24 million	$6.08	9.42

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than First Business Financial Services. First Business Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

First Business Financial Services beats First Busey on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech. The Banking segment provides banking services to individual customers, such as demand and savings deposits, money transfers, safe deposit services, individual retirement accounts and other fiduciary services, automated teller machines, and technology-based networks, as well as loan products, including residential real estate, home equity lines of credit, and consumer loans. This segment also offers banking services to corporate customers, including commercial, commercial real estate, real estate construction, and agricultural loans, as well as cash management services. The Wealth Management segment offers a range of investment and asset management, investment, brokerage, investment strategy consulting, fiduciary, philanthropic advisory, tax preparation, business succession planning, and employee retirement plan services to individuals, businesses, and foundations; and professional farm management services to the agricultural industry. The FirsTech segment provides payment technology solutions comprising online, mobile, and voice-recognition bill payments; money management and credit card networks; direct debit services; lockbox remittance processing for payments made by mail; and walk-in payments, as well as tools to help clients with billing, reconciliation, bill reminders, and treasury services. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.

About First Business Financial Services

First Business Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Business Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high net worth individuals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Missouri. The company offers real estate lending, commercial and industrial lending, asset-based lending, accounts receivable financing, equipment financing loans and leases, floorplan financing, vendor financing, small business administration lending and servicing, treasury management solutions, and company retirement services. It also provides private wealth management for individuals, including creating and executing asset allocation strategies, trust and estate administration, financial planning, investment management, and access to brokerage and custody-only services. In addition, the company offers bank consulting consisting of investment portfolio administrative and asset liability management services, and commercial deposit accounts. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.