Piper Sandler assumes coverage of five US Northeast banks

Piper Sandler assumes coverage of WesBanco WSBC.O, First Commonwealth Financial FCF.N, Financial Institutions FISI.O, Northwest Bancshares NWBI.O and WSFS Financial WSFS.O

Brokerage cities WSBC's above‑peer returns and underappreciated EPS growth driven by the successful acquisation of Premier Financial, solid loan momentum, and net interest margin expansion

FCF delivers an above-peer return profile with accelerating EPS growth, supported by net interest margin expansion and mid-single-digit commercial loan growth; FCF also trades below peers on valuation, brokerage says

Piper sees FISI's return improvement as mostly priced in, with growth flattening and earnings momentum lagging peers, despite some NIM uplift; valuation remains discounted but lacking a catalyst

Despite a commercial-lending rebuild, NWBI's overall growth is too weak and credit costs may rise near-term; earnings growth is modest and risk-reward skews to the downside, leaving shares fairly valued, brokerage says

Piper sees WSFS remains a strong performer but slower 2026 EPS growth limits upside; profitability stays above-peer, but shares already trade at a premium valuation