WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a growth of 156.8% from the April 30th total of 724,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 297,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.
WesBanco Price Performance
WSBC stock opened at $23.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 0.90. WesBanco has a 12-month low of $19.84 and a 12-month high of $41.37. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.88.
WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.06). WesBanco had a return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 28.13%. The company had revenue of $151.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WesBanco will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Jeffrey H. Jackson acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.34 per share, with a total value of $111,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $393,787.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other WesBanco news, COO Jeffrey H. Jackson acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.34 per share, with a total value of $111,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $393,787.18. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Fitzsimmons acquired 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.10 per share, for a total transaction of $358,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,908 shares in the company, valued at $1,083,574.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 22,000 shares of company stock worth $504,875 in the last three months. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of WesBanco
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,973,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $205,259,000 after purchasing an additional 75,273 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,668,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $143,311,000 after purchasing an additional 61,437 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,868,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,372,000 after purchasing an additional 44,630 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,025,000 after buying an additional 53,191 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,116,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,274,000 after buying an additional 62,971 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WSBC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on WesBanco from $36.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Stephens started coverage on WesBanco in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com began coverage on WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. DA Davidson reduced their price target on WesBanco from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WesBanco from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.57.
About WesBanco
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WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. The Community Banking segment delivers services traditionally offered by service commercial banks, including commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts, as well as commercial, mortgage, and individual installment loans, and certain non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services.
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