WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Stephens lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.00, but opened at $28.14. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. WesBanco shares last traded at $28.31, with a volume of 15,021 shares trading hands.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WSBC. Hovde Group reduced their price target on WesBanco from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in WesBanco by 3,621.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 510,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,471,000 after purchasing an additional 496,958 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,620,000. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 10.5% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,484,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,258,000 after buying an additional 140,870 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WesBanco by 100.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 235,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,746,000 after acquiring an additional 117,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in WesBanco by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 762,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,632,000 after acquiring an additional 106,300 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WesBanco Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.64 and a 200-day moving average of $28.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.86.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.54% and a net margin of 17.52%. The company had revenue of $225.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.81 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.19%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

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.