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

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.1250.

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

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 1.4%

Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $29.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Peoples Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $37.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.89.

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

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 57.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $30,220.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,238.74. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Reeves purchased 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.11 per share, for a total transaction of $36,387.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,031.05. The trade was a 10.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have bought 3,910 shares of company stock valued at $113,120. Insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $299,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 55.3% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 18,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $289,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,137 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 854,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,353,000 after purchasing an additional 96,556 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

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.