Peapack-Gladstone Financial (PGC) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BUSE or PGC?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.8% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate BUSE or PGC?

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $27.17, indicating a potential upside of 22.46%. Peapack-Gladstone Financial has a consensus price target of $36.33, indicating a potential upside of 46.51%. Given Peapack-Gladstone Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Peapack-Gladstone Financial is more favorable than First Busey.

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
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33

Is BUSE or PGC a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Peapack-Gladstone Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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. Peapack-Gladstone Financial pays out 10.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to BUSE or PGC?

In the previous week, First Busey had 6 more articles in the media than Peapack-Gladstone Financial. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Peapack-Gladstone Financial. Peapack-Gladstone Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.67 beat First Busey's score of -0.44 indicating that Peapack-Gladstone Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is BUSE or PGC more profitable?

First Busey has a net margin of 9.48% compared to Peapack-Gladstone Financial's net margin of 7.62%. First Busey's return on equity of 9.76% beat Peapack-Gladstone Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	9.76%	1.11%
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	7.62%	5.29%	0.46%

Which has more risk & volatility, BUSE or PGC?

First Busey has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peapack-Gladstone Financial has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, BUSE or PGC?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Peapack-Gladstone Financial. Peapack-Gladstone Financial 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	2.98	$113.69M	$1.12	19.81
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	$406.92M	1.08	$32.99M	$1.83	13.55

Summary

First Busey beats Peapack-Gladstone Financial on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.