Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.00.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.51 per share, with a total value of $34,510.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,424.56. The trade was a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,619,000 after purchasing an additional 21,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,080,137 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,467,000 after acquiring an additional 48,166 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 990,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,718,000 after acquiring an additional 75,231 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 472,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,188,000 after acquiring an additional 72,392 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO opened at $37.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.62. Peoples Bancorp has a 52 week low of $27.49 and a 52 week high of $37.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $119.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.72 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 17.92%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.85%.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its subsidiary Peoples Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking services designed to serve individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and digital banking platforms that enable secure online and mobile access.

On the lending side, Peoples Bancorp offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and agricultural lending, as well as residential mortgage products.