WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.83.

WSBC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WesBanco stock traded down $0.20 on Monday, hitting $32.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 258,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 271,524. WesBanco has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $37.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.45.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $243.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $152.40 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from WesBanco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.81%.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 46,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSBC. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 215.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 214.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the third quarter worth $56,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in WesBanco by 175.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in WesBanco during the third quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.