WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Short Interest Up 25.4% in March

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,428,796 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the February 26th total of 1,937,460 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 577,247 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on WSBC shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $40.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 12,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in WesBanco by 255.1% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in WesBanco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in WesBanco by 77.9% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of WesBanco stock opened at $33.37 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.43. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $26.42 and a 12-month high of $38.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 0.79.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.84. WesBanco had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 15.51%.The business had revenue of $265.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 73.43%.

WesBanco Company Profile

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.