Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 10,415 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 61.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,291 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 10,415 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.08% of Peoples Bancorp worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,027,413 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,915,000 after buying an additional 14,426 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 850,654 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,601,000 after buying an additional 22,285 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 590,905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,726,000 after buying an additional 6,250 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 153.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 352,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,606,000 after buying an additional 213,488 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 295,203 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,883,000 after buying an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEBO opened at $29.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.82 and a 200-day moving average of $32.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.74 and a 1-year high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s payout ratio is 48.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PEBO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.50 price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,101.38. This trade represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $94,050. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

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.