UBS Group AG Raises Stock Holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

UBS Group AG raised its position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 391.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 198,742 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 158,327 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Peoples Bancorp were worth $5,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PEBO. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 524.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $34.36 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.49 and a 1 year high of $35.46.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $119.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.72 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 17.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PEBO. DA Davidson upped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Hovde Group upped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total value of $59,446.15. Following the sale, the director owned 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,723.33. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.51 per share, for a total transaction of $34,510.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,424.56. The trade was a 12.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,881 shares of company stock valued at $122,872. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its subsidiary Peoples Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking services designed to serve individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and digital banking platforms that enable secure online and mobile access.

On the lending side, Peoples Bancorp offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and agricultural lending, as well as residential mortgage products.