Peoples Bancorp (PEBO) Competitors

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

Is PEBO or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Peoples Bancorp pays out 56.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 89.3% 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 has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and First Busey 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, PEBO or BUSE?

Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate PEBO or BUSE?

Peoples Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $35.25, suggesting a potential upside of 18.73%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 18.53%. Given Peoples Bancorp's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in PEBO or BUSE?

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

Does the media prefer PEBO or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 5 more articles in the media than Peoples Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for First Busey and 4 mentions for Peoples Bancorp. Peoples Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.30 beat First Busey's score of -0.15 indicating that Peoples Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Peoples Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Busey	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is PEBO or BUSE more profitable?

Peoples Bancorp has a net margin of 16.88% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. Peoples Bancorp's return on equity of 9.46% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp	16.88%	9.46%	1.15%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, PEBO or BUSE?

Peoples Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Peoples Bancorp	$620.14M	1.71	$117.21M	$2.92	10.17
First Busey	$663.36M	3.10	$113.69M	$1.12	20.59

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats First Busey on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.