Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.58.

A number of brokerages recently commented on WBS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens set a $58.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Webster Financial Trading Up 2.3 %

WBS opened at $54.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.71. Webster Financial has a 12 month low of $39.33 and a 12 month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,742.89. The trade was a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $748,333.39. The trade was a 21.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,250 shares of company stock worth $2,105,322 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Webster Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $334,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 175.5% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 4,390 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Webster Financial by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 22,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Webster Financial by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 28.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,687,000 after buying an additional 1,206,575 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.