First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Free Report) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,497 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.20% of WesBanco worth $4,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 807.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of WesBanco by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of WesBanco during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in WesBanco by 668.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in WesBanco by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSBC. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised WesBanco from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.29.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $29.93 on Friday. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $30.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.76.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $253.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.63 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. WesBanco's dividend payout ratio is currently 96.73%.

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.

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