Kentucky Trust Co Invests $126,000 in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $126,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $42,268,000 after acquiring an additional 32,879 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,148,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 25.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 695,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,712,000 after acquiring an additional 142,597 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of WesBanco in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in WesBanco by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Price Performance

WesBanco stock opened at $36.34 on Thursday. WesBanco, Inc. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $37.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.84.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.17. WesBanco had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 15.89%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from WesBanco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised WesBanco from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Monday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised WesBanco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on WesBanco from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James raised WesBanco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WesBanco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.83.

WesBanco Company Profile

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.