WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.67.

WesBanco Trading Up 2.2 %

WSBC traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.16. 551,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.09. WesBanco has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. As a group, analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the third quarter worth $116,114,000. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter worth $12,333,000. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at about $7,726,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in WesBanco by 17,801.0% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 170,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,626,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in WesBanco by 25.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,712,000 after buying an additional 142,597 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.