Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Announces Earnings Results

Key Points

• Peoples Bancorp announced earnings of $0.90 per share, surpassing expectations by $0.07, with a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.88%.
• Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,060 shares of the company, increasing his stake by 17.85%, while Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares, reducing her ownership by 4.04%.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for Peoples Bancorp, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.25.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07, Zacks reports. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.88%.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

PEBO opened at $28.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $30.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.73. Peoples Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.21 and a 1-year high of $37.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.27 per share, with a total value of $32,086.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $211,859.73. This represents a 17.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $30,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,767 shares in the company, valued at $718,238.74. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 422.4% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 349,948 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,687,000 after buying an additional 282,960 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 2.1% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 294,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,003,000 after buying an additional 5,976 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 83.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 186,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,696,000 after buying an additional 84,848 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 9.0% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 163,538 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,994,000 after buying an additional 13,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 58.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 93,668 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,861,000 after buying an additional 34,567 shares during the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PEBO shares. DA Davidson raised Peoples Bancorp to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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