WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17, Zacks reports. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%.

WesBanco Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $31.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. WesBanco has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WSBC shares. Stephens raised their target price on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.83.

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.