Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $568,000 Stock Holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,137 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 707 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Peoples Bancorp worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 2,439 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO opened at $31.62 on Monday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.38. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $37.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.65.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.04). Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.10% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $113.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total transaction of $31,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $804,480.80. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,962 shares of company stock worth $61,110. Corporate insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.25.

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.