CenterBook Partners LP Takes $874,000 Position in WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,399,000 after buying an additional 224,107 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,109,000 after buying an additional 14,147 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,642,000 after buying an additional 32,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,356,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,325,000 after buying an additional 15,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,607,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,441,000 after buying an additional 375,284 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WSBC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of WesBanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of WesBanco from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.50.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WSBC opened at $35.77 on Thursday. WesBanco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.18 and a 12-month high of $38.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.56.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.52 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 9.76%. WesBanco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 49.03%.

WesBanco declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Louis Michael Altman bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.72 per share, with a total value of $101,160.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,290.08. This trade represents a 9.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph R. Robinson bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.54 per share, with a total value of $34,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 19,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,608.72. This represents a 5.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 7,940 shares of company stock valued at $267,299 in the last three months. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WesBanco Company Profile

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.