Brookstone Capital Management Takes $298,000 Position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WBS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the third quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Webster Financial by 340.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the third quarter worth about $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in Webster Financial by 117.9% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Webster Financial by 45.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens set a $58.00 target price on Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.58.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Webster Financial stock opened at $59.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Webster Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687,532.71 billion. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 11.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,742.89. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total value of $209,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $748,333.39. The trade was a 21.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,105,322 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

About Webster Financial

Webster Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Webster Bank, National Association that provides a range of financial products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Consumer Banking.