Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 66,958 Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 66,958 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.19% of Peoples Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake 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 valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $297,000. 60.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEBO has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO opened at $29.77 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $31.53 and its 200-day moving average is $32.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.10 and a 12 month high of $37.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 48.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,686 shares in the company, valued at $876,101.38. The trade was a 3.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $94,050. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.