Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $27.55, but opened at $26.76. Peoples Bancorp shares last traded at $26.90, with a volume of 13,109 shares traded.

The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $113.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.76 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This is an increase from Peoples Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 52.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $30,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,717.20. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,002,366 shares of the bank's stock valued at $63,455,000 after acquiring an additional 35,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,238 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,077,000 after buying an additional 3,584 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 802,524 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,432,000 after buying an additional 5,398 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 758,215 shares of the bank's stock worth $24,028,000 after buying an additional 79,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peoples Bank OH boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 590,905 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,726,000 after acquiring an additional 6,250 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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.