American Century Companies Inc. Buys 79,818 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 758,215 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 79,818 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.13% of Peoples Bancorp worth $24,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 6.7 %

PEBO stock traded down $2.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.81. 31,549 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 128,055. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.98. The stock has a market cap of $991.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.75. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.10 and a fifty-two week high of $37.07.

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Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.75%. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is 48.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total value of $31,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,686 shares in the company, valued at $858,819.72. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.38.

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.