WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $35.15, but opened at $36.38. WesBanco shares last traded at $36.52, with a volume of 263,088 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. 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. Raymond James raised WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.83.

WesBanco Stock Up 3.3 %

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 fifty day moving average price of $32.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.68. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.84.

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. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. The company had revenue of $243.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from WesBanco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of WesBanco 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in WesBanco during the third quarter worth $116,114,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,934,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,313,000 after buying an additional 35,030 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,268,000 after buying an additional 32,879 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% in the third 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. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 500,890 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,917,000 after buying an additional 11,987 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.