WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $31.55, but opened at $32.94. WesBanco shares last traded at $32.14, with a volume of 34,936 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.83.

WesBanco Trading Up 2.1 %

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 company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.96.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 22,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 6,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.