Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 20th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the bank on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd.

Peoples Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years. Peoples Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 48.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Peoples Bancorp to earn $3.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.6%.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Peoples Bancorp stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.20. 270,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 141,232. Peoples Bancorp has a twelve month low of $26.74 and a twelve month high of $37.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.79.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 20.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total value of $31,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,819.72. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Edgell sold 3,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $103,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,921.12. The trade was a 15.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,420 shares of company stock valued at $424,076 over the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.