Wall Street Zen Upgrades WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) to Hold

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WSBC. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $46.00 price target on WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.20.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WSBC opened at $40.86 on Friday. WesBanco has a 1-year low of $29.57 and a 1-year high of $43.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.71.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.07. WesBanco had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $275.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.71 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In other news, EVP Jayson M. Zatta sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.80, for a total value of $522,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 81,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,389,227.60. This trade represents a 13.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.45, for a total value of $93,262.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,674 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,787.30. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,625 shares of company stock worth $1,505,462 over the last quarter. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% in the 4th 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 period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in WesBanco by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,570,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,196,000 after acquiring an additional 81,974 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,492,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in WesBanco by 65.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 240,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,306,000 after purchasing an additional 94,863 shares during the period. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in WesBanco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,462,000. 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.