Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Receives $62.08 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.08.

WBS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Webster Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Webster Financial stock opened at $51.13 on Wednesday. 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 has a 52-week low of $39.34 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $57.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.06.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced 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. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The company had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Webster Financial will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In other news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,988.56. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Webster Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,493,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,007,000 after purchasing an additional 99,908 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after acquiring an additional 333,606 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,620,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,601,000 after acquiring an additional 45,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,130,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,000,000 after acquiring an additional 35,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,154,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,173,000 after purchasing an additional 116,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% 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.