Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $34.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. They issued a market perform rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Peoples Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $36.00) on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.40.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO opened at $30.04 on Wednesday. Peoples Bancorp has a 12 month low of $23.05 and a 12 month high of $34.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $112.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $115.00 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Research analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 160.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 552,649 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,657,000 after acquiring an additional 340,566 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,815,196 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,281,000 after acquiring an additional 213,264 shares during the period. River Oaks Capital LLC increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 366.0% during the third quarter. River Oaks Capital LLC now owns 109,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 86,000 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 220.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 76,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 52,972 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,412,411 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,444,000 after acquiring an additional 51,087 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.