AlphaQuest LLC Decreases Position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 65.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,105 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WSBC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in WesBanco by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in WesBanco by 668.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in WesBanco by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.83.

WesBanco Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $31.76 on Monday. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.80 and a 200 day moving average of $32.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.07%.

WesBanco Profile

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.