Entropy Technologies LP Makes New $497,000 Investment in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,118 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter worth $35,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter worth $62,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 654.3% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.81 per share, for a total transaction of $39,810.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,291.36. This trade represents a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO opened at $42.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.51. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.49 and a 1-year high of $42.29. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEBO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $46.00 target price on Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Peoples Bancorp Profile

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.