Empowered Funds LLC Acquires New Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 172,412 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,622,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.48% of Peoples Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $46.00 price objective on Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.00.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBO opened at $39.66 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.61. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $27.49 and a one year high of $42.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.11. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 19.17% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The firm had revenue of $121.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.05 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dwight Eric Smith purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.81 per share, with a total value of $39,810.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $408,291.36. This trade represents a 10.80% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.27, for a total value of $123,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,952.41. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Marietta, Ohio. Through its subsidiary Peoples Bank, the company provides a comprehensive range of commercial and consumer banking services designed to serve individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and digital banking platforms that enable secure online and mobile access.

On the lending side, Peoples Bancorp offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and agricultural lending, as well as residential mortgage products.