First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) versus Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Financial Comparison

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

Dividends

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. First Busey pays out 80.6% 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 54.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Peoples Bancorp has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Peoples Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

First Busey has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	12.96%	9.46%	1.21%
Peoples Bancorp	17.27%	9.51%	1.17%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for First Busey and Peoples Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0	3	4	0	2.57
Peoples Bancorp	0	3	3	0	2.50

First Busey presently has a consensus target price of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.85%. Peoples Bancorp has a consensus target price of $33.63, suggesting a potential upside of 3.94%. Given First Busey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than Peoples Bancorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Busey and Peoples Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$719.58 million	3.03	$135.26 million	$1.29	19.59
Peoples Bancorp	$618.38 million	1.88	$106.78 million	$2.99	10.82

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Peoples Bancorp. 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.

Summary

First Busey beats Peoples Bancorp on 10 of the 16 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 Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; safe deposit rental facilities; money orders and cashier’s checks; and telephone, mobile, and online banking services. In addition, the company provides various life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; third-party insurance administration; interactive teller machines; insurance premium financing; check deposit and alert notification; commercial and technology equipment leasing; fiduciary and trust; underwriting, origination, and servicing of equipment leases, and equipment financing agreements; and asset management and administration services, as well as employee benefit, retirement, and health care plan administration services. Further, it offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealers; insurance premium finance lending and leasing; and credit cards to individuals and businesses, as well as provides merchant credit card transaction processing, and person-to-person payment processing services. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Marietta, Ohio.