WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Stephens lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.00, but opened at $28.14. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. WesBanco shares last traded at $28.31, with a volume of 15,021 shares traded.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group lowered their target price on WesBanco from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WesBanco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WSBC. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of WesBanco by 2,688.7% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in WesBanco by 26,200.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 3,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.86.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $225.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.81 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.54% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.19%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

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.