Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Acquires 19,631 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 16.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,631 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $4,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in WesBanco in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in WesBanco by 132.5% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in WesBanco by 573.1% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in WesBanco by 1,553.3% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco in the 1st quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In other WesBanco news, Director F Eric Nelson, Jr. bought 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph R. Robinson bought 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $200,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $200,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 49,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,240,000 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WSBC shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut WesBanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson cut WesBanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on WesBanco from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.17.

WesBanco Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $29.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.06 and a 200-day moving average of $31.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. WesBanco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.42 and a 1-year high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $261.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.38 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 13.91%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.51%.

WesBanco Company Profile

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.