Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.90.

PEBO has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $37.50 price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson cut their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

PEBO stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.20. 270,811 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 141,232. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $33.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.79. Peoples Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.74 and a fifty-two week high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 20.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total transaction of $34,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,000,759.86. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David F. Dierker sold 2,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $70,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,927.04. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,420 shares of company stock worth $424,076. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 503.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 322.2% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% during the third 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 period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% 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.