Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.1250.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PEBO shares. Zacks Research upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $36.00 to $33.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO opened at $29.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Peoples Bancorp has a 52-week low of $26.21 and a 52-week high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.57% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of ($221.08) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.88 million. Equities analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $30,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,767 shares in the company, valued at $718,238.74. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W Glenn Hogan purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.49 per share, for a total transaction of $28,490.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 535,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,248,959.11. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 3,910 shares of company stock valued at $113,120. Insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 8.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 216,843 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,503,000 after purchasing an additional 52,608 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 29,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 7,361 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 990,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 75,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 84.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 12,276 shares of the bank’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 5,604 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.