JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 316.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,645 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 46,845 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.17% of Peoples Bancorp worth $1,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 503.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 322.2% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $32.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.74 and a 12 month high of $37.07. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.25 and its 200-day moving average is $31.92.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 20.16%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director David F. Dierker sold 2,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $70,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,927.04. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total value of $34,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,759.86. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $411,010. Insiders own 3.46% 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.