Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Price Performance

NASDAQ PEBK opened at $27.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a 12-month low of $23.74 and a 12-month high of $33.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.60 million, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.60.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 12.85%.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s payout ratio is presently 26.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 606.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 426,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,340,000 after purchasing an additional 366,459 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 203.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 61,243 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 41,069 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 7.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 39,911 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the period. 43.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Company Profile

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards.