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

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.83.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in WesBanco by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 22,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in WesBanco by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 6,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in WesBanco by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in WesBanco by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in WesBanco by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Trading Down 0.4 %

WesBanco stock opened at $36.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.84. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.07%.

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.