Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Takes $8.29 Million Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC has invested approximately $8.29 million in Peoples Bancorp, acquiring 279,621 shares, making it the firm's 6th largest position.
• Peoples Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, yielding 5.3% annually, with a dividend payout ratio of 56.16%.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with a recent downgrade from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating, while the consensus price target is set at $35.25.

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 279,621 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $8,294,000. Peoples Bancorp accounts for approximately 5.9% of Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC owned 0.78% of Peoples Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 10,394 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 18,815 shares of the bank's stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $289,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,137 shares of the bank's stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 22,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 represents a 17.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total transaction of $31,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,330 shares in the company, valued at $804,480.80. This 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 Stock Down 0.5%

Peoples Bancorp stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $30.94. 102,166 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 154,469. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.21 and a 52-week high of $37.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.67.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.88%.The business had revenue of $115.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $113.20 million. On average, analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 56.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PEBO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.