WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Raymond James currently has $44.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $35.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stephens lifted their target price on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.83.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC opened at $36.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.70. WesBanco has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The firm had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP increased its stake in WesBanco by 215.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of WesBanco by 214.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 175.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

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.