Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Makes New Investment in WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 339,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,279,000. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC owned 0.35% of WesBanco as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 52.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after buying an additional 20,585 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 56.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after buying an additional 18,347 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 1,553.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 179.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 60.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 216,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,704,000 after buying an additional 81,319 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WesBanco Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of WSBC opened at $35.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. WesBanco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.18 and a 12-month high of $38.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.68.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The firm had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. WesBanco’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.03%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Louis Michael Altman bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.72 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 33,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,290.08. This represents a 9.95% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph R. Robinson bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $34.54 per share, with a total value of $34,540.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 19,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,608.72. This trade represents a 5.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $236,500 over the last 90 days. 2.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WesBanco Company 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.