Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases New Shares in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC has acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc., purchasing 10,054 shares valued at approximately $299,000 in the first quarter.
• Despite recent interest from institutional investors, Wall Street analysts have downgraded the stock from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.25.
• Peoples Bancorp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 5.3%, with a current payout ratio of 56.16%.

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,054 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 86.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the bank's stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.27 per share, with a total value of $32,086.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,999 shares in the company, valued at $211,859.73. This represents a 17.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total transaction of $31,760.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $804,480.80. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of PEBO traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.93. 24,462 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 154,312. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.34 and a 200-day moving average of $29.79. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.21 and a 1-year high of $37.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.25.

About Peoples Bancorp

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.