Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires New Shares in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired 8,455 shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. valued at approximately $271,000 in the second quarter.
• Peoples Bancorp reported a $0.60 EPS for the latest quarter, missing analyst estimates, but had a revenue of $115.02 million that exceeded expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 5.5% and a payout ratio of 56.16%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,455 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

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

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $29.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.75. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.63. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $115.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.20 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.88% and a return on equity of 9.46%. As a group, analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,060 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.27 per share, for a total transaction of $32,086.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $211,859.73. The trade was a 17.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $30,220.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $718,238.74. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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