WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• WesBanco, Inc. experienced a significant 28.8% decline in short interest in July, with 1,360,000 shares sold short as of July 31st.
• Brokerages have adjusted their price targets for WesBanco, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowering their target from $43.00 to $40.00 and Royal Bank of Canada from $36.00 to $34.00.
• The company's most recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.91, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.87, with expectations for a full-year EPS of 3.24.

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,360,000 shares, adeclineof28.8% from the July 15th total of 1,910,000 shares. Currently,1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 539,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 539,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently,1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WSBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WesBanco from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on WesBanco from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.83.

WesBanco Price Performance

WesBanco stock opened at $31.12 on Wednesday. WesBanco has a 52 week low of $26.42 and a 52 week high of $37.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75 and a beta of 0.87.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. WesBanco had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 11.65%.The business had revenue of $260.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $261.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that WesBanco will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of WesBanco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WSBC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WesBanco by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,413,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $291,427,000 after buying an additional 2,702,469 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of WesBanco by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,793,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $179,358,000 after buying an additional 1,730,801 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of WesBanco by 949.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,281,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,526,000 after buying an additional 1,159,158 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,779,000 after purchasing an additional 991,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WesBanco in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,869,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company's stock.

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.

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