Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 116,796 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,537,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 116,796 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $50,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in WesBanco by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 22,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 6,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during 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 buying an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of WesBanco by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 6,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Price Performance

NASDAQ WSBC opened at $32.33 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $37.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.81.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced 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 company had revenue of $253.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.63 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 6.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of WesBanco from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.71.

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.