WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Short Interest Update

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,540,000 shares, a growth of 32.3% from the December 31st total of 1,920,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 401,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of WesBanco stock opened at $35.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.27. WesBanco has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. Equities analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 668.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in WesBanco during the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WesBanco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.17.

WesBanco Company Profile

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.