Head to Head Comparison: BNCCORP (OTCMKTS:BNCC) vs. First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE)

BNCCORP (OTCMKTS:BNCC) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for BNCCORP and First Busey, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BNCCORP	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Busey	0	3	4	0	2.57

First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.50, indicating a potential downside of 3.58%. Given First Busey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than BNCCORP.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BNCCORP and First Busey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BNCCORP	$57.17 million	2.14	$8.77 million	$2.59	13.32
First Busey	$1.04 billion	2.31	$135.26 million	$2.25	12.68

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.4% of BNCCORP shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BNCCORP	15.52%	8.75%	0.89%
First Busey	19.16%	10.19%	1.36%

Risk & Volatility

BNCCORP has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Busey beats BNCCORP on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BNCCORP

BNCCORP, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for BNC National Bank that provides community banking, retail and mortgage banking, and wealth management services to businesses and consumers. The company offers commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate lending, small business administration loans, business checking, cash management, corporate credit cards, and merchant services to small to middle-market businesses. It also provides retail and mortgage banking services, such as personal checking and savings products, personal loans, and card services; and residential loans through a consumer direct channel, as well as a retail channel. In addition, the company offers wealth management solutions, including 401(k) and other retirement plans, trust services, and personal wealth advisory services. It offers community banking and wealth management services through 11 locations in Arizona and North Dakota; and mortgage banking services through 7 locations in Arizona, North Dakota, Illinois, and Kansas. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota.

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.