Brokerages Set Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) PT at $36.90

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.90.

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

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEBO opened at $33.05 on Wednesday. Peoples Bancorp has a 52-week low of $26.74 and a 52-week high of $37.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $103,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $552,921.12. This trade represents a 15.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total transaction of $31,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $411,010. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEBO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,465,385 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,960,000 after purchasing an additional 6,712 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 158.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 35,333 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 38.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $123,000. 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.