WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Announces Earnings Results

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17, Zacks reports. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $33.43 on Friday. WesBanco has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.04. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 0.85.

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 issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSBC. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.67.

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.