Peapack-Gladstone Financial (PGC) Competitors

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

Is PGC or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Peapack-Gladstone Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Peapack-Gladstone Financial pays out 11.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, PGC or BUSE?

Peapack-Gladstone Financial has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is PGC or BUSE more profitable?

First Busey has a net margin of 8.32% compared to Peapack-Gladstone Financial's net margin of 7.71%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.46% beat Peapack-Gladstone Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	7.71%	5.27%	0.47%
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, PGC or BUSE?

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
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	$235.29M	2.21	$32.99M	$1.80	16.32
First Busey	$663.36M	3.22	$113.69M	$1.07	22.28

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of PGC or BUSE?

72.8% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor PGC or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 6 more articles in the media than Peapack-Gladstone Financial. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Busey and 5 mentions for Peapack-Gladstone Financial. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Peapack-Gladstone Financial's score of 0.68 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate PGC or BUSE?

Peapack-Gladstone Financial presently has a consensus price target of $37.33, suggesting a potential upside of 27.11%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 16.07%. Given Peapack-Gladstone Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Peapack-Gladstone Financial is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Summary

First Busey beats Peapack-Gladstone Financial on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.