Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Invests $269,000 in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G PLC grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 207,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,743,000 after acquiring an additional 17,746 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Webster Financial by 1,482.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 339,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,801,000 after purchasing an additional 317,814 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in Webster Financial by 100.9% in the third quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 56,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 28,393 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,761,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 76,570.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 72,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 72,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WBS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group began 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 for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens set a $58.00 target price on Webster Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Webster Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.08.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In related news, insider Javier L. Evans sold 10,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $581,965.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,738.37. This represents a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total value of $30,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,742.89. This trade represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,287 shares of company stock worth $1,485,050 in the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Webster Financial Price Performance

NYSE WBS opened at $60.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $687,532.71 billion. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Company Profile

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.