Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Makes New Investment in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired 9,746 shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc., valued at approximately $289,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Peoples Bancorp's latest quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.60, falling short of the expected $0.78, while the company reported revenues of $115.02 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 5.8%, payable to shareholders of record on August 4th.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,746 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $694,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $4,986,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,020 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 86.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the bank's stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 18,815 shares of the bank's stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $31,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $804,480.80. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.27 per share, for a total transaction of $32,086.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $211,859.73. The trade was a 17.85% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,962 shares of company stock worth $61,110 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEBO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on 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 downgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.25.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.49. The company had a trading volume of 29,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,861. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $30.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.21 and a 1-year high of $37.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.67.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released 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 analysts' expectations of $113.20 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.88%. On average, analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.16%.

Peoples Bancorp Company 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.