Stephens Raises WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Price Target to $34.00

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) had its price objective boosted by Stephens from $27.00 to $34.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on WesBanco from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.71.

WesBanco Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WSBC traded down $0.46 on Tuesday, reaching $29.62. The company had a trading volume of 327,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,327. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $28.94 and its 200 day moving average is $28.70. WesBanco has a 52-week low of $23.00 and a 52-week high of $34.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $234.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.40 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 5.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 5,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total value of $161,908.97. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,413,405.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,681,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,134,000 after acquiring an additional 39,808 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 811,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,450,000 after buying an additional 48,304 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 498,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,641,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after buying an additional 21,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of WesBanco during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,620,000. Hedge funds and other 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.