WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 42.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,963 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $1,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WSBC. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,779,000 after buying an additional 991,584 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 771.4% during the 3rd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 654,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,892,000 after buying an additional 579,211 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,220,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after buying an additional 224,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 91.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 392,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,548,000 after buying an additional 187,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WSBC shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of WesBanco from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

WesBanco Stock Down 0.1%

WesBanco stock opened at $34.65 on Friday. WesBanco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.18 and a fifty-two week high of $38.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.69.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.52 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 49.03%.

WesBanco declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 20th that allows the company to repurchase 4,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WesBanco news, Director Joseph R. Robinson purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $34.54 per share, for a total transaction of $34,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 19,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,608.72. The trade was a 5.53% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Louis Michael Altman purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.72 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 33,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,118,290.08. This represents a 9.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 7,940 shares of company stock worth $267,299 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

About WesBanco

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.