Peoples Bancorp’s (PEBO) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $37.50 price target on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.75% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $32.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp has a one year low of $26.74 and a one year high of $37.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total transaction of $103,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,921.12. The trade was a 15.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Craig Beam sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total transaction of $137,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,760 shares in the company, valued at $815,205.60. This represents a 14.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $411,010. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 162,956 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,903,000 after purchasing an additional 28,346 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 55.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 56,345 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 20,173 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 138.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 36,684 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 34.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,078 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 14,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,601,000 after purchasing an additional 22,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

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.