Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Director Dwight Eric Smith Acquires 1,060 Shares

Key Points

• Director Dwight Eric Smith of Peoples Bancorp Inc. purchased 1,060 shares at an average price of $30.27, increasing his total holdings by 17.85%.
• Peoples Bancorp reported an EPS of $0.60, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.78, but had a revenue of $115.02 million exceeding the consensus estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $1.64, representing a yield of 5.51%.

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.27 per share, for a total transaction of $32,086.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $211,859.73. The trade was a 17.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,368. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.21 and a 1-year high of $37.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $998.16 million, a P/E ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.65.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $115.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.20 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.88% and a return on equity of 9.52%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 132.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 2,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 31.9% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,931 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PEBO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.25.

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.