Brokerages Set Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Target Price at $36.90

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.90.

PEBO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.50 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO opened at $32.68 on Wednesday. Peoples Bancorp has a 52 week low of $26.74 and a 52 week high of $37.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total value of $31,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,819.72. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $103,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,921.12. This trade represents a 15.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $411,010. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,008 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,636 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 3,593 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 316.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 46,845 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

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.