The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,685 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEBO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $128,113,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,270,134 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,619,000 after buying an additional 21,273 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,080,137 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,467,000 after buying an additional 48,166 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,360,000 after buying an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 472,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,188,000 after buying an additional 72,392 shares in the last quarter. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Peoples Bancorp

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

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of PEBO stock opened at $39.99 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.59. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.49 and a 1 year high of $42.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 19.17%.The business had revenue of $121.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.05 million. Analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 50.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PEBO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler set a $46.00 target price on Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.