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

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.83.

WSBC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,268,000 after acquiring an additional 32,879 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in WesBanco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after purchasing an additional 142,597 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in WesBanco by 4.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 21,297 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the third quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WesBanco Stock Performance

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $32.81 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. WesBanco has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.09 and a 200-day moving average of $31.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 0.84.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The firm had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that WesBanco will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is currently 70.81%.

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.