Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $36.87 and last traded at $36.72, with a volume of 22814 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued 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 $37.00.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.65 and a 200-day moving average of $32.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.02. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 17.92%.The business had revenue of $119.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.72 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 53.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $34.51 per share, with a total value of $34,510.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,424.56. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,619,000 after acquiring an additional 21,273 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,080,137 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,467,000 after purchasing an additional 48,166 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 8.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 990,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 75,231 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

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.