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

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.17.

Several brokerages have issued reports on WSBC. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $35.03 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.23. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.85. 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 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 return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. On average, analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 66.07%.

Insider Transactions at WesBanco

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at about $116,114,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at about $12,333,000. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at about $7,726,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in WesBanco by 17,801.0% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 170,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,626,000 after acquiring an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,712,000 after buying an additional 142,597 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.