WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $40.51 and last traded at $40.6030, with a volume of 60583 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

WesBanco Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.44.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 21.12%.The company had revenue of $257.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 49.03%.

WesBanco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 20th that allows the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lee J. Burdman acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.60 per share, with a total value of $100,800.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 46,772 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,539.20. The trade was a 6.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Louis Michael Altman acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.72 per share, for a total transaction of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 33,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,118,290.08. This trade represents a 9.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $236,500 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSBC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in WesBanco by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after purchasing an additional 224,107 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in WesBanco by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,570,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,196,000 after buying an additional 81,974 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,492,000. Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,462,000. Finally, Aristotle Capital Boston LLC purchased a new stake in WesBanco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

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.