Fmr LLC Boosts Stock Position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC - Free Report) by 25.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 695,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 142,597 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned approximately 1.04% of WesBanco worth $20,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in WesBanco by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in WesBanco by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in WesBanco by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in WesBanco by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in WesBanco by 215.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WSBC shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.83.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WSBC traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 390,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,522. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.93 and a 200-day moving average of $30.75. WesBanco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $37.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.84.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. WesBanco had a net margin of 14.79% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The firm had revenue of $243.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $152.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from WesBanco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. WesBanco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,508.79. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WesBanco 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.