WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

WesBanco has raised its dividend by an average of 3.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. WesBanco has a payout ratio of 45.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect WesBanco to earn $3.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.6%.

WesBanco Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ WSBC traded up $0.39 on Friday, reaching $36.45. 395,224 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 249,713. WesBanco has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $36.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.13. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company’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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WSBC shares. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.17.

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.