WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $31.74, but opened at $32.75. WesBanco shares last traded at $34.24, with a volume of 71,948 shares trading hands.
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%.
WesBanco Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. 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 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.07%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WSBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.67.
Get Our Latest Report on WesBanco
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in WesBanco by 17,801.0% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 170,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,626,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in WesBanco by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 29,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 7,405 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 17.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 232,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,926,000 after acquiring an additional 34,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company's stock.
WesBanco Trading Up 2.2 %
The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.85. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $33.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.04.
About WesBanco
(
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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.
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