Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. by 12.7%, acquiring an additional 96,556 shares, resulting in ownership of 854,771 shares worth approximately $25.35 million.
• After a quarterly earnings report, Peoples Bancorp missed EPS estimates, reporting $0.60 compared to the expected $0.78, despite revenues surpassing expectations at $115.02 million.
• Peoples Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, representing a 5.3% yield, with a payout ratio of 56.16%.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 854,771 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 96,556 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.40% of Peoples Bancorp worth $25,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 10,394 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 18,815 shares of the bank's stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $289,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,137 shares of the bank's stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 22,488 shares of the bank's stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.27 per share, with a total value of $32,086.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $211,859.73. This represents a 17.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total transaction of $31,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $804,480.80. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 78,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,181. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.91. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $37.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.67.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $115.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.20 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.88% and a return on equity of 9.46%. On average, analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is 56.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PEBO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.25.

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.