Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 21,373 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 239.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,373 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSBC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 224,107 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in WesBanco by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 14,147 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in WesBanco by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,764,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,883,000 after acquiring an additional 332,585 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in WesBanco by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,356,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in WesBanco by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,872,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,230,000 after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lee J. Burdman acquired 3,000 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.60 per share, with a total value of $100,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,772 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,539.20. This trade represents a 6.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph R. Robinson acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.54 per share, with a total value of $34,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,608.72. This represents a 5.53% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased 7,000 shares of company stock worth $236,500 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WesBanco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

WesBanco Price Performance

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $38.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.67. WesBanco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.18 and a 1 year high of $40.33. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.88 and its 200 day moving average is $35.24.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 21.12%.The company had revenue of $257.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. WesBanco’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 49.03%.

WesBanco 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.