Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the bank on Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Peoples Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 8 years. Peoples Bancorp has a payout ratio of 45.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Peoples Bancorp to earn $3.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.1%.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 149,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,593. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Peoples Bancorp has a twelve month low of $23.05 and a twelve month high of $34.85.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.10. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 21.52%. The firm had revenue of $112.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.00 million. Research analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PEBO shares. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $36.00) on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.40.

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.