Empowered Funds LLC Grows Holdings in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 5.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 185,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,380 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $5,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WSBC. Quarry LP increased its stake in WesBanco by 215.3% in 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 last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in WesBanco by 214.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 175.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens upped their price objective on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Hovde Group increased their target price on WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WesBanco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WesBanco Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $35.64 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. WesBanco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 0.81.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. The company had revenue of $243.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.40 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.90%.

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.