Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Rating Reiterated by Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the bank's stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Peoples Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. They set a market perform rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set an overweight rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.40.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of PEBO stock traded up $0.84 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.04. 149,255 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 125,593. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $28.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.32. Peoples Bancorp has a 52-week low of $23.05 and a 52-week high of $34.85.

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

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Peoples Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.09%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEBO. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 17.7% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,652 shares of the bank's stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $118,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 20,428 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 8,027 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $526,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,815,196 shares of the bank's stock worth $61,281,000 after purchasing an additional 213,264 shares during the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.