Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.85 and last traded at $33.7850, with a volume of 133853 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PEBO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. DA Davidson set a $35.00 price objective on Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Peoples Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $36.00 to $33.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.63.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $119.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.97 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 9.61%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 54.85%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director W Glenn Hogan acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.49 per share, for a total transaction of $28,490.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 535,239 shares in the company, valued at $15,248,959.11. This represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Reeves bought 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.11 per share, with a total value of $36,387.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,031.05. This represents a 10.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,107 shares of company stock valued at $91,869. Corporate insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PEBO. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 524.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

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.