Entropy Technologies LP Acquires Shares of 15,118 Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 15,118 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,619,000 after purchasing an additional 21,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $62,467,000 after purchasing an additional 48,166 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,360,000 after buying an additional 3,427 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 472,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,188,000 after buying an additional 72,392 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 27.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 447,339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,416,000 after buying an additional 97,391 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $46.00 price objective on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.81 per share, for a total transaction of $39,810.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,291.36. This represents a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ PEBO opened at $42.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 0.62. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.49 and a 52 week high of $42.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.51.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $121.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.05 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 19.17% and a return on equity of 10.79%. Research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Peoples Bancorp Profile

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.