Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. by 53.9% in the second quarter, now holding 16,876 shares valued at approximately $515,000.
• Peoples Bancorp reported $0.60 earnings per share for the latest quarter, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.78, while revenue slightly exceeded estimates at $115.02 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 5.6%, with a payout ratio currently at 56.16%.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 53.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,876 shares of the bank's stock after selling 19,707 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Peoples Bancorp were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 12.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 854,771 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,353,000 after buying an additional 96,556 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $8,294,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $4,986,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $3,721,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 46.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 101,653 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 32,259 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO opened at $29.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.63. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month high of $37.07. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $30.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.73. 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 posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $115.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.20 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 56.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PEBO shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $211,859.73. This trade represents a 17.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $30,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,767 shares in the company, valued at $718,238.74. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

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.

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