WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.29.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WesBanco during the first quarter worth $34,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in WesBanco by 807.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in WesBanco in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,000. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $30.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.76. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $37.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.76.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The company had revenue of $253.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 96.73%.

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.