Wall Street Zen Upgrades Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) to “Hold”

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stephens dropped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.00.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

PEBO stock opened at $29.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 0.62. Peoples Bancorp has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $113.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.76 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $30,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,717.20. This represents a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 86.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares during the period. 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.