WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17, Zacks reports. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%.

WesBanco Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.74. The company had a trading volume of 657,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 362,825. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.85. WesBanco has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.37 dividend. 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 4.66%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WSBC. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

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.