Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 262.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,704 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 29,479 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.11% of Peoples Bancorp worth $1,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,904,357 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,388,000 after acquiring an additional 18,272 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 11.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 5,141 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 31.4% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 26,917 shares of the bank's stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth $710,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 24,567 shares of the bank's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director David F. Dierker sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $70,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,927.04. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.33, for a total value of $30,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $908,777.79. The trade was a 3.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,445 shares of company stock worth $419,676. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of PEBO traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $35.30. The stock had a trading volume of 98,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,157. The company's fifty day moving average is $32.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.74 and a 52 week high of $37.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.77.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $158.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.30 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 20.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.25.

Peoples Bancorp 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.