Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.62 and last traded at $36.50, with a volume of 1793 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.75 and its 200 day moving average is $30.83.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 20.16%. The firm had revenue of $158.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.58%.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $103,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,092 shares in the company, valued at $552,921.12. This trade represents a 15.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David F. Dierker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.36, for a total transaction of $30,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,618.80. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,445 shares of company stock worth $348,956. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,904,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,388,000 after acquiring an additional 18,272 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,141 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 26,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $710,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,011,000. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.