Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.1250.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Zacks Research raised Peoples Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $36.00 to $33.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO opened at $30.26 on Monday. Peoples Bancorp has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month high of $35.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.83.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.88 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.57% and a return on equity of 9.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin R. Reeves bought 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.11 per share, with a total value of $36,387.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,031.05. This represents a 10.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $30,220.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,767 shares in the company, valued at $718,238.74. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 4,110 shares of company stock valued at $118,832 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $735,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 181,840 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,453,000 after buying an additional 18,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $610,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.