Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Stock: Insider Mark Augenstein Sells 2,000 Shares

Key Points

• Executive Vice President Mark Augenstein sold 2,000 Peoples Bancorp shares at an average price of $37.88, worth $75,760, reducing his ownership by 7.44% to 24,885 shares.
• Peoples Bancorp recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.04 in EPS versus the $0.93 consensus and revenue of $124.52 million versus $123.40 million expected.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equivalent to a 4.4% annualized yield; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $42 price target.

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) EVP Mark Augenstein sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.88, for a total value of $75,760.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,643.80. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 1.0%

PEBO traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.10. 22,834 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 302,131. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.01 and a 1 year high of $42.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.89.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The bank reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $124.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.40 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $128,113,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank's stock valued at $74,619,000 after buying an additional 21,273 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank OH grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 443,618 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,582,000 after buying an additional 7,043 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $10,181,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 28.5% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 259,843 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,541,000 after buying an additional 57,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PEBO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.00.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, Peoples Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and public-sector customers.

Peoples Bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, consumer loans, credit cards, treasury management and other financial services. The company also provides wealth management, trust and investment services, as well as insurance products through affiliated operations.

Founded in 1902, Peoples Bancorp serves communities primarily in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.

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