Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 12,072 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 46.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,072 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in WesBanco were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in WesBanco during the third quarter valued at $56,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of WesBanco by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 668.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $30.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.01. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. On average, analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 66.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.