Zacks Research Upgrades Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) to “Strong-Buy”

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PEBO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $46.00 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.50.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO stock opened at $37.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.93. Peoples Bancorp has a 52 week low of $27.49 and a 52 week high of $42.29.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $121.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.05 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 19.17% and a return on equity of 10.71%. On average, analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp news, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.27, for a total value of $123,810.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $832,952.41. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dwight Smith purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.81 per share, for a total transaction of $39,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $408,291.36. This represents a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 13.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 8,504 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,307 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, Peoples Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities.

Peoples Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, mortgage services, treasury management and other business financing solutions. The company also provides wealth management, trust, investment and insurance services through affiliated or related operations.

Founded in 1902, Peoples Bancorp serves communities primarily in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.