Federated Hermes Inc. Boosts Holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 220.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,995 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 52,972 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.22% of Peoples Bancorp worth $2,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PEBO. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,393 shares of the bank's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 29,724 shares of the bank's stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 11,555 shares of the bank's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,998 shares of the bank's stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,896 shares of the bank's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PEBO. Piper Sandler began coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $33.00 target price (down from $36.00) on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Hovde Group started coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.40.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Peoples Bancorp stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.76. The stock had a trading volume of 184,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,066. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.05 and a 12 month high of $34.85. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $28.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.76. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

Peoples Bancorp Profile

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.