Piper Sandler Raises Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Price Target to $40.00

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the bank's stock. Piper Sandler's price target points to a potential upside of 24.22% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PEBO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 2.7 %

PEBO traded up $0.85 on Wednesday, hitting $32.20. 270,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 141,232. Peoples Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.74 and a 12 month high of $37.07. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.79. 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's fifty day moving average is $33.25 and its 200-day moving average is $31.92.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.16% and a return on equity of 11.84%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PEBO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,465,385 shares of the bank's stock worth $73,960,000 after buying an additional 6,712 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,027,413 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,915,000 after buying an additional 14,426 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,654 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,601,000 after purchasing an additional 22,285 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 153.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 352,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,606,000 after buying an additional 213,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 295,203 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,883,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.