Critical Survey: Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) & Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC)

Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) and Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mid Penn Bancorp and Peapack-Gladstone Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid Penn Bancorp	$239.17 million	3.36	$56.25 million	$2.20	14.40
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	$444.61 million	1.69	$37.33 million	$2.48	17.15

Mid Penn Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Peapack-Gladstone Financial. Mid Penn Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Peapack-Gladstone Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Mid Penn Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Peapack-Gladstone Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mid Penn Bancorp pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peapack-Gladstone Financial pays out 8.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Risk and Volatility

Mid Penn Bancorp has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peapack-Gladstone Financial has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

43.1% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.8% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.8% of Peapack-Gladstone Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mid Penn Bancorp and Peapack-Gladstone Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid Penn Bancorp	13.95%	8.31%	1.06%
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	9.60%	6.75%	0.59%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Mid Penn Bancorp and Peapack-Gladstone Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mid Penn Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
Peapack-Gladstone Financial	0	1	3	0	2.75

Mid Penn Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.76%. Peapack-Gladstone Financial has a consensus price target of $40.50, indicating a potential downside of 4.75%. Given Mid Penn Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Mid Penn Bancorp is more favorable than Peapack-Gladstone Financial.

About Mid Penn Bancorp

Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Mid Penn Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. The company offers various time and demand deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, clubs, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides a range of loan products comprising mortgage and home equity loans, secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, lines of credit, construction financing, farm loans, community development loans, loans to non-profit entities, and local government loans. In addition, the company offers trust, retail investment, wealth management, and insurance services; and provides online banking, telephone banking, cash management, and automated teller services, as well as safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

About Peapack-Gladstone Financial

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Peapack-Gladstone Bank that provides private banking and wealth management services in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Peapack Private. It offers checking and savings accounts, money market and interest-bearing checking accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides working capital lines of credit, term loans for fixed asset acquisitions, commercial mortgages, multi-family mortgages, and other forms of asset-based financing services; and residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and other second mortgage loans. In addition, it offers corporate and industrial (C&I) and equipment finance, commercial real estate, multifamily, residential, and consumer lending activities; treasury management services; C&I advisory services; escrow management; deposit generation; investment management services; personal trust services, including services as executor, trustee, administrator, custodian, and guardian; and other financial planning, tax preparation, and advisory services. Further, the company provides telephone and Internet banking, merchant credit card, and customer support sales services. Its private banking clients include businesses, non-profits, and consumers; wealth management clients comprise individuals, families, foundations, endowments, trusts, and estates; and commercial loan clients include business owners, professionals, retailers, contractors, and real estate investors. The company operates its private banking locations in Bedminster, Morristown, Princeton, and Teaneck, New Jersey; and branches in Somerset, Morris, Hunterdon, and Union counties, as well as operates automated teller machines. Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey.