Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Peapack-Gladstone Financial has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen.
• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target for Peapack-Gladstone from $38.00 to $35.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.16.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Peapack-Gladstone Financial from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.33.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Price Performance

Peapack-Gladstone Financial stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $28.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 64,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,775. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $510.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 0.91. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.36. Peapack-Gladstone Financial has a twelve month low of $23.96 and a twelve month high of $37.88.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial (NASDAQ:PGC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $69.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.77 million. Peapack-Gladstone Financial had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 7.62%. Equities analysts expect that Peapack-Gladstone Financial will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Peapack-Gladstone Financial's payout ratio is 10.93%.

Insider Activity at Peapack-Gladstone Financial

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Kennedy acquired 3,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.24 per share, with a total value of $97,612.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 39,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,026,744.96. This trade represents a 10.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial by 338.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 913 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Peapack-Gladstone Financial by 389.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 5,266 shares in the last quarter. 72.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Peapack-Gladstone Financial

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Peapack-Gladstone Bank that provides private banking and wealth management services in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Peapack Private. It offers checking and savings accounts, money market and interest-bearing checking accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.