Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,467 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Peoples Bancorp worth $997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $31.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.06. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.74 and a 1 year high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 48.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PEBO shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total transaction of $31,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,686 shares in the company, valued at $858,819.72. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $98,670 in the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.