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

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.17.

WSBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stephens increased their price objective on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

WesBanco Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC opened at $35.53 on Thursday. WesBanco has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $37.36. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.54.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. The business had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that WesBanco will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.90%.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 3rd quarter valued at $116,114,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,934,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,313,000 after purchasing an additional 35,030 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,268,000 after purchasing an additional 32,879 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after purchasing an additional 142,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 500,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,917,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987 shares during the last quarter. 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.