First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,700 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 9,388 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.38% of Peoples Bancorp worth $4,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% in 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 during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.31. 10,466 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,766. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.62. 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 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $113.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.76 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Peoples Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.60%. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 52.06%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $30,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,717.20. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens cut their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson dropped 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.