WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Receives $40.83 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.83.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WSBC shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in WesBanco by 22.7% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 4,269 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its position in WesBanco by 8.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 17,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in WesBanco by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 185,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 9,380 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter worth $411,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter worth $428,000. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WesBanco stock opened at $32.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.96. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. WesBanco has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WesBanco will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 66.07%.

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.