Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 8,515 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in WesBanco by 48.7% in Q1, owning 25,992 shares valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 8,515 shares.
• WesBanco's shares are currently trading at $29.69, with an average price target of $38.83, and have received a "Moderate Buy" rating from analysts.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.37, yielding 5.0%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 89.16%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Free Report) by 48.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,515 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in WesBanco were worth $805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in WesBanco by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 44,187 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 17,907 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in WesBanco by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 318,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,367,000 after purchasing an additional 86,014 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,771,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in WesBanco by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,502,057 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,888,000 after acquiring an additional 82,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $757,000. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of WesBanco from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of WesBanco from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.83.

WesBanco Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of WSBC traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.52. 317,534 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 611,040. WesBanco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.42 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.51 and a 200-day moving average of $31.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 0.87.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. WesBanco had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The company had revenue of $260.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $261.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. WesBanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.