WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $31.74, but opened at $32.75. WesBanco shares last traded at $34.24, with a volume of 71,948 shares trading hands.

The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is a boost from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday. Three investment 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, WesBanco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $116,114,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,934,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,313,000 after purchasing an additional 35,030 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,268,000 after purchasing an additional 32,879 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after purchasing an additional 142,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 2.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 500,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,917,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WesBanco Stock Up 5.3 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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.