WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of WesBanco from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

WesBanco Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $37.28 on Monday. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $29.18 and a 12-month high of $38.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $257.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.52 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 21.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 20th that allows the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In related news, Director Louis Michael Altman acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.72 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,118,290.08. This trade represents a 9.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lee J. Burdman bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.60 per share, for a total transaction of $100,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,571,539.20. This trade represents a 6.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 7,000 shares of company stock worth $236,500 over the last 90 days. 2.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in WesBanco by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after buying an additional 224,107 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 59,077 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 14,147 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 332,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $78,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,673 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.