WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Announces Earnings Results

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17, Zacks reports. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%.

WesBanco Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:WSBC traded down $0.23 on Wednesday, hitting $31.74. 657,710 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 362,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.04. WesBanco has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $37.36.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens increased their target price on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services.