WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Receives $37.83 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.83.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,114,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the third quarter worth $12,333,000. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the third quarter valued at $7,726,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after acquiring an additional 142,597 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in WesBanco by 466.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 152,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,266,000 after acquiring an additional 125,883 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC opened at $32.04 on Monday. WesBanco has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.40 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that WesBanco will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is currently 70.81%.

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.