Peoples Bancorp’s (PEBO) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

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

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PEBO. DA Davidson cut their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $32.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.95. Peoples Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.74 and a 12 month high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 48.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $103,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,921.12. The trade was a 15.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director S Craig Beam sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 23,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,205.60. This represents a 14.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $411,010. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 322.2% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.