Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 2,121 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 12.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,121 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP increased its position in WesBanco by 215.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in WesBanco by 214.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in WesBanco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in WesBanco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 175.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WSBC opened at $35.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.45 and a 200 day moving average of $30.98. WesBanco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $37.36.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.79%. The firm had revenue of $243.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WSBC shares. Raymond James raised shares of WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

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.