First Horizon Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 45.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $65,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 28.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 64.9% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,927,000 after acquiring an additional 631,080 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Webster Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $22,146,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Webster Financial by 1,482.9% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Webster Financial by 12.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,640,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,096,000 after purchasing an additional 301,935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WBS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Webster Financial from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.85.

Webster Financial Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE WBS opened at $61.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $39.33 and a one year high of $61.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.27.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 11.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $748,333.39. This represents a 21.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 3,463 shares of Webster Financial 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,460.90. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,750 shares of company stock valued at $2,074,367 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% 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.