WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Stephens in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $39.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Stephens' price target indicates a potential upside of 14.17% from the stock's current price.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.67.

WesBanco Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $34.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 551,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,667. WesBanco has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $37.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $33.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.85.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WesBanco

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,508.79. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in WesBanco by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,268,000 after buying an additional 32,879 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in WesBanco during the third quarter worth about $1,148,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 142,597 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in WesBanco by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.