AlphaQuest LLC Sells 540 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

AlphaQuest LLC cut its stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,386 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 540 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Peoples Bancorp were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 854,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,353,000 after buying an additional 96,556 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth $8,294,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth $4,986,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth $3,721,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 46.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 101,653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 32,259 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEBO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $36.00 to $33.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Peoples Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research raised Peoples Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $30,220.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,238.74. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of PEBO opened at $28.60 on Friday. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.21 and a 12-month high of $37.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.98 and its 200 day moving average is $29.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.63.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of ($221.08) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.88 million. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.57% and a return on equity of 9.45%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.34%.

Peoples Bancorp Profile

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.