Insider Selling: WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) EVP Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) EVP Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total transaction of $104,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,314.44. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Jan Pattishall-Krupinski also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 28th, Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 2,250 shares of WesBanco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.45, for a total value of $93,262.50.
• On Monday, June 22nd, Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 4,500 shares of WesBanco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.71, for a total value of $165,195.00.

WesBanco Stock Down 0.3%

WSBC traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $41.88. 425,166 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 868,525. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.67. WesBanco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.18 and a 1-year high of $42.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.07. WesBanco had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $275.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.71 million. Sell-side analysts predict that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.19%.

WesBanco announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WesBanco

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WesBanco by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after acquiring an additional 224,107 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in WesBanco by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,570,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,196,000 after acquiring an additional 81,974 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in WesBanco during the 4th quarter valued at $1,492,000. Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in WesBanco during the 4th quarter valued at $1,462,000. Finally, Aristotle Capital Boston LLC bought a new position in WesBanco during the fourth quarter worth $11,279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WSBC shares. DA Davidson set a $46.00 price target on WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on WesBanco from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.