Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 56,867 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the previous session’s volume of 116,935 shares.The stock last traded at $28.73 and had previously closed at $28.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PEBO. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 0.3 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.04. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $112.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.41 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.90%.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

In other Peoples Bancorp news, CEO Tyler J. Wilcox sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $250,095.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 40,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,101.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,344 shares of company stock valued at $271,436. Insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEBO. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $118,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $129,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $174,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $226,000. Hedge funds and other 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.