Hovde Group Issues Positive Forecast for Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Stock Price

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) had its target price raised by Hovde Group from $33.00 to $36.00 in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PEBO. DA Davidson set a $35.00 price target on Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.13.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO opened at $33.92 on Wednesday. Peoples Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.49 and a 12-month high of $35.46. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.31.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.02. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 17.92%.The firm had revenue of $119.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.72 million. Research analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 54.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Ryan Kirkham sold 986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.47, for a total transaction of $32,015.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,289 shares in the company, valued at $528,903.83. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total value of $59,446.15. Following the sale, the director owned 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $605,723.33. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 4,881 shares of company stock valued at $156,792 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 524.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Peoples Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — reported roughly $0.82 EPS and revenue ~ $119.3M, topping consensus and showing year-over-year profit growth; management released the slide deck and call transcript. PEBO Q1 earnings & transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition announced — Peoples agreed to acquire Citizens National (Paintsville, KY) in a cash-and-stock deal (~$76.6M reported), expanding footprint and adding scale in an attractive regional market; analysts/coverage note this as accretive to growth. Merger announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raised — Board declared a $0.42 quarterly cash dividend (up $0.01, ~4.9% yield annualized), demonstrating capital return focus and supporting income-seeking investors. Dividend press release
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — DA Davidson bumped its price target to $38 with a Buy, and Hovde raised its target to $36 (Market Perform), providing coverage momentum and signaling analysts view upside from here. Analyst coverage note
• Neutral Sentiment: Detailed materials available — earnings presentation and call transcript published for deeper metric review (net margin, ROE, slides). Useful for modeling but not immediate catalysts. Earnings presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst write-ups and metric breakdowns — Zacks and other outlets ran Q1 deep dives comparing key metrics to estimates and prior-year figures; useful for longer-term thesis but not single-day drivers. Zacks metrics analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Acquisition and payout risks — while the Citizens deal boosts scale, it brings execution and integration risk and is financed with cash/stock; the recently announced dividend equals a sizable portion of Q1 earnings (reported ~51.7% of Q1), which some investors may view as constraining capital for organic growth or M&A. Acquisition coverage / risks

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.