Emerald Investment Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 142,868 WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

Emerald Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 142,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,576,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bayview Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC now owns 80,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,669,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC increased its position in WesBanco by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 10,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in WesBanco by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in WesBanco by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in WesBanco by 1.9% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 4,500 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.71, for a total value of $165,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,318,770.04. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jayson M. Zatta sold 12,500 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.80, for a total value of $522,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 81,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,389,227.60. The trade was a 13.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,625 shares of company stock worth $1,505,462 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on WesBanco from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of WSBC opened at $40.86 on Friday. WesBanco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.57 and a twelve month high of $43.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.04 and a 200 day moving average of $36.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $275.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $267.71 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 23.35%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is currently 44.19%.

WesBanco Profile

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.