Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Stock

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.06% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PEBO. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three 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, Peoples Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO opened at $31.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 0.65. Peoples Bancorp has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 18.10% and a return on equity of 10.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $31,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $804,480.80. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,962 shares of company stock valued at $61,110 in the last three months. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,294,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,986,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,721,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 451,788 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,317,000 after purchasing an additional 99,300 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 12.7% in the first 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.