American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 79,818 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 758,215 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,818 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Peoples Bancorp were worth $24,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 34.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,078 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 14,658 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 262.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 29,479 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $323,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,961 shares of the bank’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $29.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.53 and a 200 day moving average of $31.99. 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 12 month low of $27.10 and a 12 month high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 48.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total transaction of $30,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,717.20. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050. Corporate insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PEBO shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on 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, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.50 price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.90.

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.