Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 461,400 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the July 31st total of 559,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 136,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director David F. Dierker sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.07, for a total transaction of $128,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,493.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,617 shares of company stock worth $148,524. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 160.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 552,649 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,657,000 after buying an additional 340,566 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,815,196 shares of the bank's stock valued at $61,281,000 after acquiring an additional 213,264 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 586,015 shares of the bank's stock worth $17,580,000 after purchasing an additional 123,423 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,412,411 shares of the bank's stock valued at $81,444,000 after purchasing an additional 51,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 158.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,631 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 35,333 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:PEBO traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.00. The company had a trading volume of 117,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,455. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.76. Peoples Bancorp has a 1 year low of $24.84 and a 1 year high of $34.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $154.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.30 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 12.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.90%.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.