Company: WSBC
Filing Date: 2025-03-14
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-039418
Chunk: 30

Company: WESBANCO INC
Filing Date: 2025-03-14
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 30
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 which are discussed in this Compensation Discussion & Analysis with respect to the named executive officers.

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Annual Compensation

Our executive officers receive two forms of annual cash compensation, base salary, and annual incentive awards. The levels of base salary and annual incentive awards for our executive officers are established annually under a program intended to maintain parity with the competitive market for executives in comparable positions.

The annual compensation program, as espoused by our Compensation Committee through its philosophy statement, is intended to target Corporation performance, both in terms of the attainment of short-term and long-term goals, and to consider principally return on equity, growth in earnings per share, and return on assets.

For 2024, the Compensation Committee did consider the 2024 Peer Group data with respect to annual compensation increases at the May 15, 2024 meeting. Given the relative performance of the Corporation compared to the 2024 Peer Group, the Committee determined to provide average increases in base compensation in the range of 3.16% for the year for all officers. The Committee also agreed to continue to utilize a fixed percentage of base salary to determine the size of equity awards for certain executive officers consisting of 80% time based restricted stock and 20% of performance based restricted stock based (at target achievement) on the number of shares awarded, benchmarked against the 2024 Peer Group. Each of the named executive officers were fixed at 90% of base salary for equity awards for the year 2024, except for Mr. Richmond who was fixed at 80% of base salary.

The Committee also reviewed the performance ratios based on both return on assets and return on average tangible common equity to the peer group.

BaseSalary.Base salary is a critical element of executive compensation because it provides executives with a base level of monthly income. In determining base salaries, our Compensation Committee considers the executive’s qualifications and experience, scope of responsibilities and future potential, the goals and objectives established for the executive, the executive’s past performance, competitive salary practices at companies in the study groups, internal pay equity and the tax deductibility of base salary.

Based on compensation data provided by the Compensation Committee’s independent compensation consultant, Cowden, peer group comparisons, individual evaluations and internal equities, our chief executive officer recommends base salaries for all executive officers to the Compensation Committee for their consideration, except with respect to his own salary. Based on the Compensation Committee’s review of the applicable compensation data, as discussed above and including Mr. Jackson’s recommendations for 2024,