O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 77,750 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,464,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned 0.22% of Peoples Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEBO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $37.50 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp 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 research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.38.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Peoples Bancorp stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.93. 23,499 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 129,166. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $31.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.90. The firm has a market cap of $996.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.73%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,686 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

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.