Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Short Interest Update

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO – Get Rating) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 913,300 shares, a decrease of 44.6% from the April 30th total of 1,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 154,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Susan D. Rector bought 2,100 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.53 per share, with a total value of $59,913.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $602,011.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Susan D. Rector purchased 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.53 per share, for a total transaction of $59,913.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,011.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan D. Rector purchased 2,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.04 per share, for a total transaction of $74,994.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 24,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $603,363.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 6,195 shares of company stock valued at $162,738. Insiders own 2.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,555,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 10.8% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 20,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,982 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 304,866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,612,000 after acquiring an additional 39,450 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,114 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 5,166 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. 49.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $26.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Peoples Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $23.05 and a fifty-two week high of $32.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.93. The company has a market cap of $755.55 million, a PE ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 5th. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PEBO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.71.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Peoples Bancorp, Inc operates as a financial holding company, which engages in banking, investment, insurance, and trust solutions. It offers various demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, commercial, consumer, real estate mortgage loans and lines of credit, debit and automated teller machine cards, credit cards for individuals and businesses, merchant credit card transaction processing services, corporate and personal trust services, safe deposit rental facilities, money orders and cashier’s checks, life, health, property and casualty insurance products, brokerage services, and custom-tailored fiduciary, employee benefit plans and asset management & administration services.