WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $215.88.

Several analysts recently issued reports on WCC shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of WESCO International from $215.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on WESCO International from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on WESCO International from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Baird R W raised WESCO International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of WESCO International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th.

WESCO International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCC opened at $188.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $195.08 and a 200-day moving average of $176.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 2.02. WESCO International has a fifty-two week low of $132.37 and a fifty-two week high of $216.17.

WESCO International (NYSE:WCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. WESCO International had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company had revenue of $5.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.49 EPS. WESCO International’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WESCO International will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WESCO International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.4125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. WESCO International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WESCO International

In other news, CFO David S. Schulz sold 14,938 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.55, for a total value of $3,085,443.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 104,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,578,485.05. This represents a 12.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP William Clayton Geary sold 2,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.73, for a total transaction of $582,010.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,213,510.99. This represents a 7.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,767 shares of company stock worth $5,567,454. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WESCO International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WCC. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in WESCO International by 23,727.4% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,589,048 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,896,000 after buying an additional 1,582,379 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of WESCO International during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,782,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in WESCO International by 341.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 258,486 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,420,000 after acquiring an additional 199,975 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in WESCO International by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 762,653 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $128,143,000 after acquiring an additional 22,080 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in WESCO International by 142.8% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 30,063 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 17,682 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.76% of the company’s stock.

WESCO International Company Profile

WESCO International, Inc provides business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), Communications & Security Solutions (CSS), and Utility and Broadband Solutions (UBS).