WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a decline of 59.5% from the February 28th total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 639,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in WesBanco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the 3rd 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. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the 3rd quarter worth $1,148,000. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of WesBanco by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 63,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,056,000 after buying an additional 9,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 142,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $30.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.97. WesBanco has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. On average, research analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stephens reiterated 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 lifted their price target on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.83.

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.