Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.90.

Several equities analysts have commented on PEBO shares. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $30.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp has a 12 month low of $27.10 and a 12 month high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 48.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total value of $32,830.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,101.38. The trade was a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $94,050. 3.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 33,146 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 77,115 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,444,000 after acquiring an additional 7,578 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 184,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,833,000 after acquiring an additional 65,612 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,682 shares of the bank’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 8,381 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.