Brokerages Set WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Price Target at $39.50

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of WesBanco from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, March 12th.

Insider Transactions at WesBanco

In other news, Director Lee J. Burdman acquired 3,000 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.60 per share, with a total value of $100,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 46,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,571,539.20. This trade represents a 6.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Louis Michael Altman acquired 3,000 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.72 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 33,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,290.08. This represents a 9.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 7,940 shares of company stock valued at $267,299 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after acquiring an additional 224,107 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,451,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,013,000 after acquiring an additional 59,077 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,109,000 after acquiring an additional 14,147 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,764,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,883,000 after acquiring an additional 332,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,356,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $34.56 on Thursday. WesBanco has a 12 month low of $29.18 and a 12 month high of $38.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.16.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The business had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 49.03%.

WesBanco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.