WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 6,231,038 shares, an increase of 75.7% from the June 15th total of 3,546,347 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,259,842 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at WesBanco

In other news, Director Lee J. Burdman bought 3,000 shares of WesBanco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.60 per share, for a total transaction of $100,800.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 46,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,571,539.20. The trade was a 6.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jan Pattishall-Krupinski sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.71, for a total transaction of $165,195.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,318,770.04. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 7,000 shares of company stock worth $236,500 over the last three months. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bayview Asset Management LLC grew its stake in WesBanco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC now owns 80,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,669,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in WesBanco by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of WesBanco by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 10,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in WesBanco by 1.6% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 24,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WesBanco Trading Up 4.2%

WSBC opened at $41.18 on Friday. WesBanco has a 52-week low of $29.18 and a 52-week high of $41.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.32 and its 200-day moving average is $35.40.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $257.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that WesBanco will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.03%.

WesBanco declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 20th that allows the company to buyback 4,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.