Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating, reflecting a negative outlook for the stock.
• Analysts from Stephens and DA Davidson have also lowered their price targets for Peoples Bancorp to $33.00 and $35.00, respectively, indicating diminished expectations for the company.
• Peoples Bancorp reported earnings of $0.60 per share, missing analyst expectations, while revenues surpassed estimates at $115.02 million for the quarter.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.24. 63,417 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 156,059. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.24. Peoples Bancorp has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $37.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.67.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $115.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $113.20 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.88% and a return on equity of 9.46%. Equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is 56.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.27 per share, with a total value of $32,086.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $211,859.73. This represents a 17.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total transaction of $31,760.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $804,480.80. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,962 shares of company stock worth $61,110 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 132.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 864 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in 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 period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,931 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

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.