Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Trims Holdings in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $1,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in WesBanco during the 4th quarter worth $328,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in WesBanco by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,268,000 after purchasing an additional 32,879 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in WesBanco in the third quarter valued at about $1,148,000. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in WesBanco by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 63,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,056,000 after buying an additional 9,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,712,000 after buying an additional 142,597 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSBC has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.83.

WesBanco Trading Up 0.4 %

WesBanco stock opened at $32.05 on Thursday. WesBanco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $37.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.96.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.07%.

About WesBanco

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.