WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Receives $38.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.67.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WSBC. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its position in WesBanco by 215.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 175.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $34.16 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.72 and its 200 day moving average is $32.15. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $37.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.07%.

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.