StockNews.com Downgrades Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Price Performance

Shares of PEBK opened at $30.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.46 million, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a 52-week low of $16.35 and a 52-week high of $31.59.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s payout ratio is 25.94%.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

In related news, Director James S. Abernethy sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total value of $73,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 83,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,050,797. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,824 shares of the bank’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,245 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L raised its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 1.0% in the third quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 217,763 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,790,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the last quarter. 43.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards.