Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) EVP Michael Ryan Kirkham Sells 986 Shares

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) EVP Michael Ryan Kirkham sold 986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.47, for a total value of $32,015.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $528,903.83. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $32.15. 67,089 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 294,761. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.21 and a 12-month high of $34.33.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $119.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.97 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 9.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 54.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEBO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $35.00 target price on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Peoples Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEBO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,080,137 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,467,000 after buying an additional 48,166 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 8.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 990,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 75,231 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 926,866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,309,000 after purchasing an additional 26,786 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 612,568 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,708,000 after purchasing an additional 8,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 472,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,188,000 after purchasing an additional 72,392 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its subsidiary Peoples Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking services designed to serve individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and digital banking platforms that enable secure online and mobile access.

On the lending side, Peoples Bancorp offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and agricultural lending, as well as residential mortgage products.