Peoples Bancorp Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.41 (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of 0.41 per share by the bank on Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th.

Peoples Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 49.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Peoples Bancorp to earn $3.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.8%.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of PEBO traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 202,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,205. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.65. Peoples Bancorp has a 52-week low of $26.21 and a 52-week high of $37.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.30 and its 200-day moving average is $30.37.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $115.02 million for 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 forecast that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $31,760.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $804,480.80. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,962 shares of company stock valued at $61,110. Company insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEBO. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,544 shares of the bank's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,996 shares of the bank's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $62,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 6.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 82,290 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,441,000 after buying an additional 5,175 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 87.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 64,668 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 30,121 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Bancorp Company 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.