WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $44.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $40.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WSBC. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.83.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $36.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.45. WesBanco has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.84.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in WesBanco by 175.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in WesBanco by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in WesBanco in the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in WesBanco by 668.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

About WesBanco

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.