Earnest Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,413,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,072 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned 2.38% of WesBanco worth $39,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in WesBanco by 0.9% in the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 49,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in WesBanco by 6.1% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 7,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 4.6% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 3.9% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 63,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,985,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens raised their target price on WesBanco from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Hovde Group raised their target price on WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 5,363 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total transaction of $161,908.97. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,413,405.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WesBanco Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of WSBC stock opened at $29.24 on Friday. WesBanco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.00 and a fifty-two week high of $34.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). WesBanco had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $234.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

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.