Comerica Bank Sells 3,781 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Comerica Bank lowered its holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,672 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,781 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.06% of Peoples Bancorp worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Peoples Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 31,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,304 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $30,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,717.20. The trade was a 3.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Up 0.9%

PEBO opened at $30.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $37.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.62.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.04). Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The company had revenue of $113.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEBO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

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.