Intesa Sanpaolo (OTCMKTS:ISNPY) vs. First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Head to Head Survey

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Intesa Sanpaolo (OTCMKTS:ISNPY) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Dividends

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Intesa Sanpaolo pays an annual dividend of $1.91 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. First Busey pays out 43.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Intesa Sanpaolo pays out 51.3% 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. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Busey and Intesa Sanpaolo”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$789.53 million	3.05	$135.26 million	$2.42	12.06
Intesa Sanpaolo	$43.96 billion	2.75	$10.54 billion	$3.72	11.04

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

Volatility and Risk

First Busey has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intesa Sanpaolo has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for First Busey and Intesa Sanpaolo, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0	4	3	0	2.43
Intesa Sanpaolo	0	2	4	1	2.86

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.18%. Given First Busey’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Intesa Sanpaolo.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of Intesa Sanpaolo shares are owned by institutional investors. 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	21.00%	10.48%	1.40%
Intesa Sanpaolo	25.19%	14.10%	1.02%

Summary

Intesa Sanpaolo beats First Busey on 10 of the 18 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 Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. provides various financial products and services primarily in Italy. It operates through six segments: Banca dei Territori, IMI Corporate & Investment Banking, International Subsidiary Banks, Asset Management, Private Banking, and Insurance. The company offers lending and deposit products; private and commercial banking, corporate and transaction banking, structured finance, investment banking, public finance, and capital markets; industrial credit, leasing, and factoring; asset management; life and non-life insurance and pension products; asset and wealth management; private investments; and bancassurance products. The company serves individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, non-profit customers, corporates and financial institutions, public administration, private clients and high net worth individuals, institutional clientele, and other customers. Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Turin, Italy.