WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.
At the moment, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to monitor the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outpace the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action regarding WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC).
What have hedge funds been doing with WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 33% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Bryn Mawr Capital, managed by Ken Gray and Steve Walsh, holds the biggest position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC). Bryn Mawr Capital has a $18.8 million position in the stock, comprising 1.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $5.6 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Consequently, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, established the biggest position in WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC). Millennium Management had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC). These stocks are Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGBN), The Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:TBBK), SCBT Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:SCBT), City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO), and United Community Banks Inc (NASDAQ:UCBI). All of these stocks are in the regional – mid-atlantic banks industry and their market caps match WSBC’s market cap.
