First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) versus Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) Head-To-Head Review

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

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp Montana pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Eagle Bancorp Montana pays out 50.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 48.5% 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Eagle Bancorp Montana is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and First Busey”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp Montana	$114.34 million	1.09	$10.06 million	$1.12	13.84
First Busey	$601.76 million	2.49	$122.57 million	$1.98	13.30

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Eagle Bancorp Montana and First Busey, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp Montana	0	1	0	0	2.00
First Busey	0	1	4	0	2.80

Eagle Bancorp Montana currently has a consensus price target of $13.50, suggesting a potential downside of 12.90%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $28.60, suggesting a potential upside of 8.62%. Given First Busey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp Montana.

Risk and Volatility

Eagle Bancorp Montana has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp Montana	7.06%	5.07%	0.41%
First Busey	17.18%	9.10%	0.96%

Summary

First Busey beats Eagle Bancorp Montana on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, such as residential mortgages and construction of residential properties; commercial real estate loans, including multi-family dwellings, nonresidential property, commercial construction and development, and farmland loans; and second mortgage/home equity loans. In addition, it offers consumer loans, such as loans secured by collateral other than real estate, such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, and boats; personal loans and lines of credit; commercial business loans consisting of business loans and lines of credit on a secured and unsecured basis; construction loans; agricultural loans; and mortgage loan services. The company operates full-service branches and automated teller machines. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Helena, Montana.

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.