Analysts Set WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Price Target at $37.83

Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.83.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WSBC shares. Stephens upped their target price on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 17.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 232,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,926,000 after purchasing an additional 34,008 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,148,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in WesBanco by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,268,000 after acquiring an additional 32,879 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in WesBanco by 151.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 181,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,399,000 after acquiring an additional 109,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in WesBanco during the 3rd quarter worth $116,114,000. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC opened at $32.04 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.66. WesBanco has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that WesBanco will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 70.81%.

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.