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

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.60.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research lowered WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In related news, Director Lee J. Burdman acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.60 per share, with a total value of $100,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 46,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,571,539.20. This trade represents a 6.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Louis Michael Altman acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.72 per share, for a total transaction of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,290.08. This represents a 9.95% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 7,940 shares of company stock valued at $267,299. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,399,000 after acquiring an additional 224,107 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,109,000 after acquiring an additional 14,147 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,764,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,883,000 after acquiring an additional 332,585 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,356,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,872,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,230,000 after acquiring an additional 21,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Price Performance

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $34.50 on Friday. WesBanco has a twelve month low of $29.18 and a twelve month high of $38.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.90.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 21.12%.The business had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 49.03%.

About WesBanco

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.