Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) Upgraded to “Buy” by 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 released on Thursday morning.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ PEBK opened at $28.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $155.06 million, a PE ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.89. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a one year low of $16.35 and a one year high of $30.99.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $19.40 million for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 16.29%.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina news, Director James S. Abernethy sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,050,797. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 16.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,245 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank owned about 0.67% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.83% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

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.