Bank of America Corp DE Buys New Shares in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 168,626 shares of Peoples Bancorp in the second quarter, worth approximately $6.5 million, while institutional investors collectively own 60.68% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.00. Peoples Bancorp also exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.96 EPS versus the $0.85 consensus.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.42, equivalent to an annualized $1.68 and a 4.3% yield; the stock recently traded at $39.22.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 168,626 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $6,477,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.47% of Peoples Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $128,113,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank's stock valued at $74,619,000 after buying an additional 21,273 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 443,618 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,582,000 after buying an additional 7,043 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,181,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 259,843 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,541,000 after acquiring an additional 57,650 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEBO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler set a $46.00 price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three investment 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Dwight Smith bought 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.81 per share, with a total value of $39,810.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $408,291.36. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.27, for a total value of $123,810.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,183 shares in the company, valued at $832,952.41. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $39.22 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.59. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.49 and a 1 year high of $42.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $121.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.05 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 19.17% and a return on equity of 10.71%. On average, research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Peoples Bancorp Profile

Peoples Bancorp Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, Peoples Bank, the company provides community banking services to consumers, businesses and institutions.

Its offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgages, consumer and business loans, credit and debit cards, cash-management services and online and mobile banking. Peoples also provides wealth-management, trust and investment services, as well as insurance products through affiliated businesses.

Founded in 1902, Peoples Bancorp has developed a regional banking franchise serving communities across Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.

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