Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Insider Buying Activity

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $40.85 and last traded at $40.66, with a volume of 349041 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.31.

Specifically, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.81 per share, with a total value of $39,810.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,291.36. This represents a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PEBO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $46.00 price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Down 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.51.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.11. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.79% and a net margin of 19.17%.The firm had revenue of $121.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.05 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 50.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 422.4% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 349,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,687,000 after buying an additional 282,960 shares in the last quarter. Align Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,318,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 391.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 198,742 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after acquiring an additional 158,327 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 248.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 211,869 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,362,000 after acquiring an additional 151,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 46.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 400,064 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,998,000 after purchasing an additional 127,778 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.