📰 What This Document Is 💰

This filing is an 8-K, which is an SEC "Current Report." Think of it like a rapid-fire update to the market. Companies use it to immediately announce material, important news that happened after they filed their main quarterly report.

In this case, Peoples Bancorp Inc. announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2026. It tells shareholders how the bank performed in the quarter ended March 31, 2026, and also details a significant capital action: a dividend increase.

👉 The main headline: While Q1 2026 net income ($29.0 million) was lower than the previous quarter (Q4 2025, $31.8 million), the bank demonstrated key operational improvements, particularly in its deposit stability and net interest margin.

🏢 What Peoples Bancorp Does 🗺️

Peoples Bancorp is a deeply established, diversified financial services holding company that has been operating since 1902. It doesn't just offer basic checking accounts; it provides a full range of financial solutions.

The bank makes money by operating multiple subsidiaries, including Peoples Bank, Peoples Insurance Agency, and Vantage Financial. Its services cover banking, trust services, investment, insurance, and specialized financing.

👉 Scale and Reach: As of March 31, 2026, the bank had $9.6 billion in total assets and operated 144 locations, including 127 full-service branches across states like Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland.

💸 Key Financial Results for Q1 2026 🏦

This section covers the top-line financial performance, showing how profitable the bank was in the first quarter compared to recent periods. Net income is the bottom line—the amount of money the company has earned.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Peoples reported a net income of $29.0 million. This translates to earnings per diluted common share of $0.81.

We see a comparison to the previous two quarters:

• Q4 2025: Net income was $31.8 million (EPS: $0.89).
• Q1 2025: Net income was $24.3 million (EPS: $0.68).

The Chief Executive Officer, Tyler Wilcox, stated, "We are pleased with the results for the first quarter of 2026, with improvements in net interest margin and our tangible equity to tangible assets ratio increasing to 8.91% versus 8.79% for the prior quarter."

👉 Key takeaway: While the headline net income was lower than the quarter before, the management highlighted specific operational improvements in the underlying metrics, suggesting stability and efficiency gains.

📈 Operational Improvements & Drivers ⛽

Banks earn money primarily from the difference between the interest they earn (on loans) and the interest they pay (on deposits). This analysis breaks down why the Q1 2026 numbers looked the way they did.

Deposit Stability (The Funding Side) The bank saw strong growth in core deposits. Core deposits—money from stable sources like government accounts—increased $191.8 million.

• The total deposit balances increased $38.2 million compared to December 31, 2025.
• This growth was fueled by seasonal governmental deposits and savings accounts.
• Crucially, the increase was partially offset by a strategic reduction in "brokered CDs" (certificates of deposit), allowing the bank to shift toward lower-cost short-term funding sources.

Net Interest Margin (NIM) The Net Interest Margin (NIM) measures how efficiently the bank is earning money from interest. For Q1 2026, NIM was 4.16%, up from 4.12% linked quarter.

• This increase was specifically driven by a successful reduction in the cost of deposits.
• Why it matters: A higher NIM generally means the bank is maintaining a strong profit cushion, suggesting that they are paying less to borrow money than they are earning on their loans.

Non-Interest Income Total non-interest income (money earned from sources other than interest, like fees and insurance) increased $0.4 million, or 1%.

• This increase was mainly attributed to seasonal, performance-based commissions paid for insurance products during the first quarter.

🛡️ Asset Quality and Risk Management 🗄️

A bank's health depends heavily on whether its borrowers (and its own investments) will repay their debts. This section details the bank's asset quality metrics.

• Net Charge-offs: As a percentage of average total loans, net charge-offs improved by 4 basis points, dropping from 0.44% to 0.40%. This improvement was partly attributed to a decrease in charge-offs related to the North Star Leasing division.
• Criticized Loans: The balance of criticized loans decreased by $12.3 million compared to December 31, 2025.

👉 Why it matters: Lower charge-offs and reduced criticized loans signal that the bank’s portfolio of loans is becoming healthier and the credit risk in its local market is stable.

👑 Dividend Announcement and Capital Returns 💰

In addition to the quarterly results, the Board of Directors made a significant announcement regarding shareholder returns.

On April 20, 2026, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per common share.

• This represents an increase of $0.01, or 2%, over the prior dividend.
• The dividend is payable on May 18, 2026, to shareholders record on May 4, 2026.
• The bank noted that this dividend represents a payout of approximately $15.0 million, or 51.7% of the reported first quarter 2026 earnings.

👉 Why it matters: A dividend increase signals management's confidence in the bank's current and future financial stability and ability to distribute profits to shareholders.

📊 Detailed Financial Metrics and Accounting Practices ⚙️

The filing contains several complex financial metrics and required compliance disclosures. These sections are necessary for a full understanding of the bank's financial picture.

Provision for Credit Losses (PCL): The bank provisioned $9.7 million for credit losses in Q1 2026. This provision is set aside to cover expected losses on loans that might not be repaid. This amount was higher than the $8.1 million provision in the linked quarter.

• The provision is influenced by both net charge-offs and the bank's use of the CECL (Current Expected Credit Losses) model, which accounts for deteriorating macro-economic forecasts.

Non-US GAAP Financial Measures: Because banks often use specialized industry measures, the filing provided a detailed list of non-US GAAP metrics. These measures provide management's specific view of the bank’s performance, excluding certain items like goodwill or gains and losses.

• Tangible Assets/Equity: These figures exclude the impact of goodwill and intangible assets, offering a view of the bank's value based purely on physical and core assets.
• Efficiency Ratio: This ratio measures how much it costs the bank to operate. The metric reported was 58.61% for Q1 2026. (Lower is better).

📅 Upcoming Dates and Contact Information 📞

This section gathers all the logistical details—who to call and when things happen next.

• Contacts: For investor inquiries, you can contact Katie Bailey, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, at (740) 376-7138, or via email at [email omitted].
• Investor Information: Full details and replay links for the conference call can be found on the Peoples' website, www.peoplesbancorp.com, in the "Investor Relations" section.

🧠 The Analogy

Imagine a local coffee shop that is like a bank. During a busy quarter, the shop makes great money (high revenue). But if the cost of buying coffee beans (deposit costs) suddenly jumps, the profit margin shrinks even if they sell the same number of cups. In Q1 2026, Peoples Bancorp’s situation was similar: they managed to keep their profit margin high (4.16% NIM) by dramatically reducing their costs (deposit costs) and by improving the overall quality of their customers' debts (lower charge-offs). They are proving they can operate efficiently, even if the quarter-over-quarter net profit dips slightly.

🧩 Final Takeaway

Peoples Bancorp signaled stability and operational efficiency in Q1 2026, driven by cost controls and strong core deposit growth. The 2% dividend increase confirms confidence in the bank's management and steady path toward delivering shareholder value.