WESCO International (NYSE:WCC) Raised to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of WESCO International (NYSE:WCC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of WESCO International from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $522.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of WESCO International from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of WESCO International from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of WESCO International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of WESCO International in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WESCO International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.86.

WESCO International Stock Performance

Shares of WCC opened at $179.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.34. WESCO International has a one year low of $122.30 and a one year high of $195.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $162.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.58.

WESCO International (NYSE:WCC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.27). WESCO International had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 3.30%. The business had revenue of $5.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that WESCO International will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WESCO International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.4125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. WESCO International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

Insider Activity at WESCO International

In other WESCO International news, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 5,819 shares of WESCO International stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.56, for a total transaction of $998,307.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,632,806.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WESCO International

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WCC. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in WESCO International by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 633 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WESCO International during the second quarter worth $723,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of WESCO International during the second quarter worth $52,782,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of WESCO International by 23,727.4% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,589,048 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,896,000 after buying an additional 1,582,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in WESCO International by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 58,511 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,275,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.76% of the company’s stock.

About WESCO International

WESCO International, Inc provides business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), Communications & Security Solutions (CSS), and Utility and Broadband Solutions (UBS).