JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Price Target to $65.00

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $67.00 to $65.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on WBS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.46.

Webster Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

WBS opened at $55.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.85 and a 200-day moving average of $50.41. Webster Financial has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. The company had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Webster Financial will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 36.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.33, for a total transaction of $474,640.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 218,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,988,760.92. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total value of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $748,333.39. This trade represents a 21.89 % 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 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 28.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,687,000 after buying an additional 1,206,575 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,927,000 after acquiring an additional 631,080 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 182.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 959,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,496,000 after purchasing an additional 619,934 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,146,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after purchasing an additional 333,606 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently 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.