Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,138 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,938 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.13% of Peoples Bancorp worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEBO. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO stock opened at $29.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.05. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.75. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.03 and a 12 month high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.35%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 48.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $30,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,686 shares in the company, valued at $775,717.20. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PEBO. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.50 price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

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.