WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial lowered shares of WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WSBC. DA Davidson set a $46.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.60.

WesBanco Price Performance

NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $36.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.66. WesBanco has a 1 year low of $29.57 and a 1 year high of $43.02.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.07. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 23.35%.The firm had revenue of $275.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.71 million. Equities analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 44.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WesBanco news, EVP Jayson 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 transaction 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Denise Knouse-Snyder sold 3,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.89, for a total value of $125,532.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,035 shares in the company, valued at $614,781.15. The trade was a 16.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 35,195 shares of company stock valued at $1,465,800 over the last 90 days. 2.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in WesBanco in the second quarter worth about $363,992,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in WesBanco by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,451,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,013,000 after acquiring an additional 59,077 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in WesBanco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,562,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in WesBanco by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,872,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,230,000 after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in WesBanco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,433,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc is a financial services holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia. Through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses, and organizations.

WesBanco’s offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential real estate loans, commercial lending, credit cards, online and mobile banking, and other deposit and treasury management services. The company also provides trust, investment management, brokerage, and insurance services through affiliated businesses and financial professionals.

Founded in 1870, WesBanco has developed a regional banking presence serving communities in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Indiana.