Bfsg LLC Makes New $174,000 Investment in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,162 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $174,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 214.9% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 7,292 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 4,976 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter worth $229,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Peoples Bancorp by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,437 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PEBO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down from $36.00) on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler started coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Peoples Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.40.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEBO traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $29.63. 25,986 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 124,291. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.32. 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 capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.76. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.05 and a 1-year high of $34.85.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.10. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 20.17%. The firm had revenue of $112.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.71%.

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.