Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James Abernethy Sells 600 Shares

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James Abernethy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.06, for a total transaction of $24,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,184. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Trading Down 0.6%

PEBK traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.31. The stock had a trading volume of 35,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,820. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.30. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.98 and a 1-year high of $42.63.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $21.57 million for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a net margin of 17.22% and a return on equity of 13.24%.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 159,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 154,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,594,000 after acquiring an additional 78,921 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 109,442 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,962,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Maltese Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 49,958 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 7.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,009 shares of the bank’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244 shares during the period. 43.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Company Profile

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Hickory, North Carolina, that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Peoples Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services tailored to individuals, small businesses, and municipal clients in the western region of North Carolina.

Through its community banking network, Peoples Bancorp offers deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.