First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stake in WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 949.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,281,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,159,158 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.33% of WesBanco worth $40,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in WesBanco by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 64,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 19,836 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the first quarter worth $26,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 47.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 40.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,413,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702,469 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in WesBanco by 27.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,110,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,389,000 after purchasing an additional 238,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on WSBC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WesBanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of WesBanco from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of WesBanco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.17.

WesBanco Price Performance

WSBC opened at $33.15 on Wednesday. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.42 and a 52-week high of $37.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.65. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its 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. WesBanco had a net margin of 13.91% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The business had revenue of $261.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is presently 77.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director F Eric Nelson, Jr. sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.37, for a total value of $25,094.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph R. Robinson purchased 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $200,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at $200,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 52,921 shares of company stock valued at $1,339,995. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About WesBanco

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.