Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $37.50 target price on the bank's stock.

PEBO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of 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 upped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:PEBO traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.20. 270,811 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 141,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.92. Peoples Bancorp has a 12-month low of $26.74 and a 12-month high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director S Craig Beam sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total transaction of $137,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,760 shares in the company, valued at $815,205.60. The trade was a 14.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $103,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $552,921.12. This trade represents a 15.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,420 shares of company stock valued at $424,076 over the last ninety days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEBO. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 31,151 shares of the bank's stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,043 shares of the bank's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,961 shares of the bank's stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 503.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% 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.