Fmr LLC Purchases 142,597 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Fmr LLC boosted its position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 25.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 142,597 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $20,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSBC. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in WesBanco by 4.6% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of WesBanco by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in WesBanco by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in WesBanco by 215.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WesBanco Price Performance

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $35.44 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.75. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $37.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 0.84.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $243.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.40 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSBC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.83.

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.