Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Receives $63.36 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.92.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set 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 boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

WBS opened at $41.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05. Webster Financial has a 1-year low of $39.34 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Webster Financial will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total transaction of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,493,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,007,000 after buying an additional 99,908 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 4.8% during 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 stake in Webster Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,130,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,000,000 after purchasing an additional 35,039 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,154,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,173,000 after purchasing an additional 116,508 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.