WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WSBC. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.17.

WesBanco Stock Down 0.7 %

WesBanco stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.42. The stock had a trading volume of 544,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,602. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.39. WesBanco has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $37.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. Research analysts predict that WesBanco will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from WesBanco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. WesBanco's payout ratio is presently 66.07%.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 32,879 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,148,000. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 worth $20,712,000 after purchasing an additional 142,597 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company's stock.

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.