Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 9,466 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,398 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,466 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.29% of WesBanco worth $6,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of WesBanco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,114,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,934,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $58,313,000 after purchasing an additional 35,030 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,268,000 after purchasing an additional 32,879 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,712,000 after purchasing an additional 142,597 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 500,890 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,917,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of WesBanco from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of WesBanco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.83.

WesBanco Price Performance

Shares of WSBC traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.43. 358,445 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 480,142. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.50. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. WesBanco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from WesBanco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. WesBanco's payout ratio is 66.07%.

WesBanco Company Profile

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.