Brokerages Set Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Target Price at $60.31

Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.31.

WBS has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stephens set a $58.00 target price on Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total transaction of $209,720.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $748,333.39. The trade was a 21.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 3,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total value of $180,422.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,460.90. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,105,322 in the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Webster Financial by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 170,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,447,000 after purchasing an additional 20,300 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 12.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,640,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,096,000 after acquiring an additional 301,935 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC increased its position in Webster Financial by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 207,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,743,000 after purchasing an additional 17,746 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Webster Financial by 1,482.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 339,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,801,000 after purchasing an additional 317,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,582,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

Webster Financial stock opened at $55.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.31. Webster Financial has a twelve month low of $39.33 and a twelve month high of $63.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $647.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Webster Financial will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.28%.

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.