Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.90.

PEBO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. DA Davidson reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

Peoples Bancorp stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.82. 100,600 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 136,650. Peoples Bancorp has a one year low of $26.74 and a one year high of $37.07. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $32.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.98. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.34%.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director David F. Dierker sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $70,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,927.04. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.82, for a total value of $34,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $986,172.04. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,000 shares of company stock worth $169,390 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEBO. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 77,115 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,444,000 after acquiring an additional 7,578 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 184,074 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,833,000 after purchasing an additional 65,612 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,682 shares of the bank's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,629 shares of the bank's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 8,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graver Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,806,000. 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.