Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.90.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PEBO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $29.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.74 and a 1-year high of $37.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.10.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Research analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total value of $32,830.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,101.38. The trade was a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050. Insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted 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 buying an additional 2,738 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is 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.