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

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.68 and last traded at $39.7110, with a volume of 44425 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEBO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 2.9%

The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.02. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 17.92%.The business had revenue of $119.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.72 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.85%.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.51 per share, for a total transaction of $34,510.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,256 shares in the company, valued at $319,424.56. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,619,000 after buying an additional 21,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,080,137 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,467,000 after acquiring an additional 48,166 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 472,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,188,000 after purchasing an additional 72,392 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 27.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 447,339 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,416,000 after purchasing an additional 97,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Company 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.