Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.6250.

PEBO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $35.00 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total value of $33,920.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $719,239.68. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 422.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 349,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,687,000 after purchasing an additional 282,960 shares in the last quarter. Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,318,000. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the second quarter worth $4,887,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 391.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 198,742 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,968,000 after buying an additional 158,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 248.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 211,869 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,362,000 after buying an additional 151,125 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $34.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.68. Peoples Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $34.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.48.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 17.27%.The company had revenue of $119.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.97 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 54.85%.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its subsidiary Peoples Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking services designed to serve individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and digital banking platforms that enable secure online and mobile access.

On the lending side, Peoples Bancorp offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and agricultural lending, as well as residential mortgage products.