Empowered Funds LLC Has $3.90 Million Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. by 8.3%, owning 131,444 shares valued at $3.9 million after selling 11,842 shares in Q1.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and CWM LLC, increased their positions significantly, with GAMMA raising its stake by 1,426.3%.
• Peoples Bancorp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, yielding 5.4%, and has seen a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from analysts.

Empowered Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,444 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,842 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.37% of Peoples Bancorp worth $3,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 86.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the bank's stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $242,000. 60.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEBO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.83, for a total transaction of $30,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,093.90. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dwight Eric Smith purchased 1,060 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.27 per share, for a total transaction of $32,086.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $211,859.73. This represents a 17.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $30.10. 127,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 112,951. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $37.07. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.74.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.88%. Sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.16%.

Peoples Bancorp 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.