Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases Shares of 44,800 WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 44,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WSBC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 52.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 20,585 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in WesBanco by 56.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 18,347 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in WesBanco by 1,553.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in WesBanco by 179.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,543,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,779,000 after purchasing an additional 991,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in WesBanco by 60.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 216,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,704,000 after purchasing an additional 81,319 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WesBanco Stock Performance

WesBanco stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.98. 750,959 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,989. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.18 and a 52 week high of $40.33.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 21.12%.The firm had revenue of $257.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 49.03%.

WesBanco declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WesBanco news, EVP Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.71, for a total transaction of $165,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,318,770.04. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lee J. Burdman acquired 3,000 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.60 per share, with a total value of $100,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,571,539.20. This trade represents a 6.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 7,000 shares of company stock worth $236,500 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Company Profile

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.