First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) Critical Analysis

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	12.96%	9.59%	1.19%
Heartland BancCorp.	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$1.04 billion	2.22	$135.26 million	$1.29	20.32
Heartland BancCorp.	$119.21 million	2.74	$20.26 million	$9.76	16.39

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for First Busey and Heartland BancCorp., as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0	4	3	0	2.43
Heartland BancCorp.	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Busey presently has a consensus price target of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.01%. Given First Busey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp..

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.5% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

First Busey beats Heartland BancCorp. on 10 of the 13 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 Heartland BancCorp.

Heartland BancCorp operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank that provides various banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts. It also provides various lending solutions comprising agricultural loans, commercial and business lending, home and personal loans, and title services. In addition, the company offers online banking, treasury management, credit and debit card, and mobile wallet services. Further, it provides education planning, insurance, wealth management, and retirement planning services. Heartland BancCorp was founded in 1911 and is based in Whitehall, Ohio.