Dark Forest Capital Management LP Sells 9,661 Shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) by 41.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,661 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in WesBanco were worth $383,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WSBC. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in WesBanco by 105.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 33,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 17,345 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in WesBanco during the first quarter worth about $3,555,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in WesBanco by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,685,000 after buying an additional 21,297 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in WesBanco during the first quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in WesBanco by 1.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 209,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,231,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WesBanco Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:WSBC opened at $29.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. WesBanco, Inc. has a one year low of $23.00 and a one year high of $34.85. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.83.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). WesBanco had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 15.22%. The business had revenue of $234.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

WesBanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. WesBanco’s payout ratio is 60.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WesBanco news, EVP Michael L. Perkins sold 5,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.19, for a total transaction of $161,908.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,413,405.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of WesBanco from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of WesBanco from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of WesBanco from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of WesBanco from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WesBanco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.71.

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.