Walleye Capital LLC Invests $296,000 in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 4.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in WesBanco by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 215.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price target on WesBanco from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

Insider Transactions at WesBanco

In other news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $39,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,508.79. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $35.62 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.81.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

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

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.