222,919 Shares in WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 222,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,701,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 12,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in WesBanco by 54.5% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 260.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In related news, Director Denise H. Knouse-Snyder sold 3,070 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.89, for a total value of $125,532.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,781.15. The trade was a 16.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Robert H. Friend sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.06, for a total transaction of $84,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,361 shares in the company, valued at $730,203.66. This represents a 10.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,630,995. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

WesBanco Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WSBC opened at $39.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.94. WesBanco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.57 and a 1 year high of $43.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.66.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.07. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 23.35%.The firm had revenue of $275.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.71 million. As a group, equities 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 authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 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.