Peoples Bancorp (PEBO) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Is BUSE or PEBO more profitable?

Peoples Bancorp has a net margin of 18.10% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. Peoples Bancorp's return on equity of 10.36% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%
Peoples Bancorp	18.10%	10.36%	1.25%

Is BUSE or PEBO a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. First Busey pays out 93.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Peoples Bancorp pays out 52.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Peoples Bancorp has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Peoples Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, BUSE or PEBO?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor BUSE or PEBO?

In the previous week, First Busey had 6 more articles in the media than Peoples Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Busey and 5 mentions for Peoples Bancorp. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.26 beat Peoples Bancorp's score of -0.27 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Peoples Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has higher earnings and valuation, BUSE or PEBO?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$663.36M	3.24	$113.69M	$1.07	22.43
Peoples Bancorp	$620.14M	1.83	$117.21M	$3.15	10.08

Do analysts prefer BUSE or PEBO?

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 15.28%. Peoples Bancorp has a consensus price target of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.35%. Given First Busey's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Peoples Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Peoples Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BUSE or PEBO?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Busey beats Peoples Bancorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.