Earnest Partners LLC Increases Position in WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in WesBanco, Inc. by 4.6%, owning approximately 1.86 million shares valued at $57.57 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• WesBanco recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.87, and is forecasting an EPS of 3.24 for the current fiscal year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend payment of $0.37 per share, yielding 4.5%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 5th.

Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,859,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 82,434 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 2.78% of WesBanco worth $57,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in WesBanco in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 132.5% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the first quarter worth $34,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of WesBanco during the first quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in WesBanco by 573.1% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of WesBanco from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.83.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WSBC traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $32.04. The stock had a trading volume of 64,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,862. WesBanco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.42 and a 12-month high of $37.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business's 50-day moving average price is $31.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.34. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.85.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. WesBanco had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The company had revenue of $260.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $261.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. WesBanco's payout ratio is currently 89.16%.

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.