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

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.83.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stephens increased their target price on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $32.81 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 0.84. WesBanco has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $37.36. 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 (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.40 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in WesBanco by 215.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 214.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 175.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the third quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.