Head-To-Head Contrast: First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) versus First National Bank Alaska (OTCMKTS:FBAK)

First National Bank Alaska (OTCMKTS:FBAK) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for First National Bank Alaska and First Busey, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First National Bank Alaska	0	0	0	0	N/A
First Busey	0	2	3	0	2.60

First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.80, indicating a potential upside of 14.59%. Given First Busey’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than First National Bank Alaska.

Profitability

This table compares First National Bank Alaska and First Busey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First National Bank Alaska	N/A	13.17%	1.07%
First Busey	16.94%	9.12%	0.98%

Risk and Volatility

First National Bank Alaska has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First National Bank Alaska and First Busey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First National Bank Alaska	$240.24 million	N/A	$60.01 million	$19.33	10.86
First Busey	$601.76 million	2.29	$122.57 million	$1.94	12.51

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

Dividends

First National Bank Alaska pays an annual dividend of $12.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First National Bank Alaska pays out 66.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 49.5% 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.

Summary

First Busey beats First National Bank Alaska on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First National Bank Alaska

First National Bank Alaska, a commercial bank, provides various banking products and services for business, industry, and individual customers primarily in Alaska. The company offers savings and checking accounts; money market deposits; safe deposit services; certificates of deposit; individual retirement accounts; and personal, home equity, and construction loans, as well as loans for stability and growth. It also provides investment, treasury, trust, and wealth management services; and escrow and contract collection, and bankcard services. In addition, the company offers debit and credit cards, online and mobile banking, fraud prevention, and convenience banking services. First National Bank Alaska was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska.

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.