Inspire Advisors LLC Takes $1.42 Million Position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 50,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,000. Inspire Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of WesBanco as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WesBanco by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 811,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,450,000 after buying an additional 48,304 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in WesBanco in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in WesBanco in the 4th quarter worth $283,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in WesBanco by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter valued at $8,620,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 5,363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total value of $161,908.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,405.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson increased their target price on WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Hovde Group raised their target price on WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens boosted their price target on WesBanco from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WesBanco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.71.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of WesBanco stock opened at $30.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.03. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.83. WesBanco, Inc. has a one year low of $23.00 and a one year high of $34.85.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). WesBanco had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $234.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

WesBanco Company 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.