Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBK opened at $28.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $158.29 million, a PE ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.95. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a fifty-two week low of $16.35 and a fifty-two week high of $30.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina news, Director James S. Abernethy sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 83,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,050,797. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 16.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock. AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,245 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,993 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank owned about 0.67% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 43.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Company Profile

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards.