Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.
According to Zacks, “WESBANCO, INC. is a multi-bank holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in general banking business. “
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WSBC. B. Riley set a $40.00 price target on WesBanco and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BidaskClub cut WesBanco from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, December 27th. Finally, ValuEngine raised WesBanco from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.25.
NASDAQ WSBC opened at $37.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.17 and its 200 day moving average is $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. WesBanco has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $43.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.13.
WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). WesBanco had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 28.22%. The business had revenue of $117.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $126.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.63%.
In other news, EVP Jonathan D. Dargusch sold 4,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.10, for a total transaction of $171,602.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,343.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Crawford sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total value of $375,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,650 shares in the company, valued at $61,891.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WSBC. Nuveen Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,659,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 2,301.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 248,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,588,000 after acquiring an additional 238,350 shares in the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,836,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 136.5% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 208,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,789,000 after acquiring an additional 120,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 60.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 292,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,289,000 after acquiring an additional 110,706 shares in the last quarter. 61.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About WesBanco
WesBanco, Inc operates as the holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, and mortgage banking and insurance services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services.
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