Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Shares Purchased by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 34.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,583 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 9,292 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Peoples Bancorp worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank's stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $229,000. 60.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.80. 126,508 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 138,869. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $37.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.64.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $113.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.76 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 18.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Peoples Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.50%. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is 52.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PEBO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.00.

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.