Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $30.46, but opened at $31.20. Peoples Bancorp shares last traded at $30.07, with a volume of 18,267 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, November 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Piper Sandler started coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.25.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.08. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.75.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $154.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.30 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 12.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David F. Dierker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.36, for a total value of $30,360.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,618.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,121 shares of company stock valued at $64,340. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PEBO. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 17.7% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,652 shares of the bank’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 25.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 3,453 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 126.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,367 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 11,354 shares during the period. Finally, Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 30,433 shares of the bank’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

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.