WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17, Zacks reports. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WesBanco stock opened at $31.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.79 and its 200 day moving average is $32.03. WesBanco has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $37.36.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens upped their target price on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.83.

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.