Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Overweight” Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $75.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $70.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WBS. StockNews.com downgraded Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.69.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock opened at $55.93 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Webster Financial has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (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 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Webster Financial will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total transaction of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at $748,333.39. This represents a 21.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,279 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,742.89. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,250 shares of company stock worth $2,105,322. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 28.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,206,575 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 631,080 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Webster Financial by 182.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 959,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,496,000 after acquiring an additional 619,934 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Webster Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,146,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Webster Financial Company Profile

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.