WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.17.

WSBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

WesBanco Stock Down 0.8 %

WSBC stock opened at $35.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.71 and a 200-day moving average of $32.23. WesBanco has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 66.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSBC. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in WesBanco by 215.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in WesBanco by 175.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Company Profile

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.