WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 5.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of WSBC stock traded down $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $30.36. 462,063 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 236,979. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.62 and its 200 day moving average is $29.29. WesBanco has a 1-year low of $23.00 and a 1-year high of $34.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 67.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 5,363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total transaction of $161,908.97. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,413,405.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price on WesBanco from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.71.

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.