Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PEBO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Monday, October 5th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ PEBO opened at $35.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.62. Peoples Bancorp has a 12-month low of $27.49 and a 12-month high of $42.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.10.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $121.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.05 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 19.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.27, for a total transaction of $123,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,952.41. This represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dwight Smith acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.81 per share, with a total value of $39,810.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $408,291.36. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 1.3% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 24,366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,307 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, Plan A Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 10,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

Peoples Bancorp Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, Peoples Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities.

Peoples Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, mortgage services, treasury management and other business financing solutions. The company also provides wealth management, trust, investment and insurance services through affiliated or related operations.

Founded in 1902, Peoples Bancorp serves communities primarily in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.