18,055 Shares in WesBanco, Inc. $WSBC Purchased by Cullen Capital Management LLC

Cullen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 18,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 20,585 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in WesBanco by 56.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 18,347 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in WesBanco by 179.7% during 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 lifted its position in WesBanco by 60.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WSBC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson set a $46.00 target price on WesBanco in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Denise H. Knouse-Snyder sold 3,070 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.89, for a total value of $125,532.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,035 shares in the company, valued at $614,781.15. The trade was a 16.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kimberly L. Griffith sold 6,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $283,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $653,349.60. This represents a 30.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,630,995. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

WesBanco Stock Performance

Shares of WesBanco stock opened at $40.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.76. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.57 and a 52 week high of $43.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.67.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $275.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.71 million. WesBanco had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 23.35%. As a group, analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.19%.

WesBanco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 20th that allows the company to buyback 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.