Point72 DIFC Ltd Buys Shares of 4,945 WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $147,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSBC. FMR LLC lifted its stake in WesBanco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after purchasing an additional 142,597 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 500,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,917,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in WesBanco by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 21,297 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter valued at $12,333,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter valued at about $7,726,000. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WesBanco Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of WSBC opened at $36.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.81 and its 200-day moving average is $30.70. WesBanco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.40 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WesBanco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.83.

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.