Trexquant Investment LP Buys New Shares in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,997 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.11% of Peoples Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.36. The stock had a trading volume of 15,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,898. 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 $975.75 million, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on PEBO shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $30,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $775,717.20. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

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.