StockNews.com Upgrades WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) to “Hold”

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WSBC. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

WesBanco Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $35.19 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.35. WesBanco has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $37.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.84.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. Research analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 directly owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSBC. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $574,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at $328,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 14,950 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 130,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 62,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

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.