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

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.43.

A number of analysts recently commented on WSBC shares. StockNews.com raised WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

WesBanco Price Performance

WSBC stock opened at $27.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. As a group, equities analysts predict that WesBanco will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after acquiring an additional 142,597 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in WesBanco by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,844 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in WesBanco in the third quarter worth about $296,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 28.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

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.