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

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on WSBC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of WesBanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson cut shares of WesBanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on WesBanco from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In related news, Director F Eric Nelson, Jr. sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total transaction of $25,094.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Zahid Afzal bought 3,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.11 per share, for a total transaction of $99,995.31. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $398,144.53. This trade represents a 33.54% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,109,000 after purchasing an additional 14,147 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 1.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,642,000 after buying an additional 32,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in WesBanco by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,389,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,588,000 after buying an additional 172,276 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in WesBanco by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,779,000 after acquiring an additional 991,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in WesBanco by 949.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,281,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159,158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $33.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. WesBanco has a 1-year low of $26.42 and a 1-year high of $37.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.29.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $261.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.38 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.91%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.55%.

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.