Financial Comparison: First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) vs. Peoples Financial (OTCMKTS:PFBX)

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Busey and Peoples Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$461.45 million	2.47	$113.69 million	$1.97	10.15
Peoples Financial	$39.52 million	2.24	$21.70 million	$4.66	4.12

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

Risk and Volatility

First Busey has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Financial has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.8% of Peoples Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of First Busey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 28.1% of Peoples Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	17.14%	8.94%	1.00%
Peoples Financial	54.68%	26.99%	2.51%

Dividends

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Peoples Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First Busey pays out 50.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Financial pays out 7.7% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for First Busey and Peoples Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0	2	3	0	2.60
Peoples Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.80, suggesting a potential upside of 39.00%. Given First Busey’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Peoples Financial.

Summary

First Busey beats Peoples Financial on 10 of the 16 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 Peoples Financial

Peoples Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for The Peoples Bank that provides banking, financial, and trust services to government entities, individuals, and small and commercial businesses in Mississippi. The company accepts various deposits, such as interest and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). It offers business, commercial, real estate, construction, personal, and installment loans; and personal trust, agencies, and estate services, including living and testamentary trusts, executorships, guardianships, and conservatorships. In addition, the company provides self-directed IRAs; and escrow management, stock transfer, and bond paying agency accounts to corporate customers. Further, it offers other services consisting of safe deposit box rental, wire transfer, night drop facilities, collection, cash management, and Internet banking services. the company provides services to customers of various industries, such as seafood, retail, hospitality, hotel/motel, gaming, and construction. Peoples Financial Corporation was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi.