WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Upgraded by DA Davidson to Strong-Buy Rating

DA Davidson upgraded shares of WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

WSBC has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler began coverage on WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

WesBanco Stock Up 3.0%

WSBC stock opened at $36.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.22 and a 200-day moving average of $33.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. WesBanco has a one year low of $26.42 and a one year high of $38.10.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.84. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $265.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is currently 73.43%.

Insider Transactions at WesBanco

In other WesBanco news, Director F Eric Nelson, Jr. sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total transaction of $25,094.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after purchasing an additional 224,107 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in WesBanco by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,109,000 after acquiring an additional 14,147 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in WesBanco by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,764,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,883,000 after acquiring an additional 332,585 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 7.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,389,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,588,000 after purchasing an additional 172,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in WesBanco by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,872,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,230,000 after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares during 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.