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

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.92.

Several research analysts have commented on WBS shares. Barclays boosted 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. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WBS opened at $43.99 on Friday. Webster Financial has a 1 year low of $39.34 and a 1 year high of $63.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.58.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Webster Financial will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In related news, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 171.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 647 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.