WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $33.96 and traded as high as $34.74. WesBanco shares last traded at $34.20, with a volume of 561,370 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WSBC. Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on WesBanco from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research lowered WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

WesBanco Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.69.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 21.12%.The firm had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 49.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In other news, Director Louis Michael Altman purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.72 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,118,290.08. The trade was a 9.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph R. Robinson purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.54 per share, with a total value of $34,540.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,608.72. This trade represents a 5.53% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 7,940 shares of company stock valued at $267,299. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,399,000 after buying an additional 224,107 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,451,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,013,000 after buying an additional 59,077 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,109,000 after buying an additional 14,147 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,764,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,883,000 after buying an additional 332,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,356,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,325,000 after buying an additional 15,673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.