EMC Capital Management Reduces Stock Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

EMC Capital Management trimmed its position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 88.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,479 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 51,006 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Peoples Bancorp were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 42.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 503.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 322.2% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 223.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,964 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $123,000. 60.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ PEBO opened at $32.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $26.74 and a one year high of $37.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.02.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.34%.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In other news, Director S Craig Beam sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total value of $137,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,205.60. This represents a 14.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total transaction of $34,130.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,759.86. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $411,010 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEBO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.50 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.90.

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.