Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $37.50 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $32.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.92. Peoples Bancorp has a 52 week low of $26.74 and a 52 week high of $37.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 20.16% and a return on equity of 11.84%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director S Craig Beam sold 4,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total value of $137,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,760 shares in the company, valued at $815,205.60. This trade represents a 14.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total value of $31,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,819.72. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $411,010. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEBO. FMR LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 503.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 322.2% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $123,000. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.