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

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three 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 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of WesBanco from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded WesBanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on WesBanco in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson cut WesBanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In related news, Director F Eric Nelson, Jr. sold 752 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total transaction of $25,094.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Zahid Afzal purchased 3,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.11 per share, for a total transaction of $99,995.31. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,144.53. The trade was a 33.54% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in WesBanco by 949.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,281,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,526,000 after buying an additional 1,159,158 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,779,000 after acquiring an additional 991,584 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new position in WesBanco during the second quarter worth $29,869,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in WesBanco during the third quarter worth $19,863,000. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in WesBanco by 771.4% in the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 654,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,892,000 after purchasing an additional 579,211 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC opened at $36.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.80. WesBanco has a 1 year low of $26.42 and a 1 year high of $37.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. WesBanco had a net margin of 13.91% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $261.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. WesBanco’s payout ratio is currently 77.55%.

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.