Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published 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.

WBS has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group began coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.46.

Webster Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WBS opened at $55.30 on Monday. Webster Financial has a 12-month low of $39.33 and a 12-month high of $63.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30. 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 issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Webster Financial will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other news, Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total transaction of $230,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,676,369.20. This represents a 12.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was 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 approximately $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. Insiders sold 37,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,105,322 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBS. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Webster Financial by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 170,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,447,000 after buying an additional 20,300 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 12.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. M&G PLC grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 9.4% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 207,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,743,000 after purchasing an additional 17,746 shares during the period. 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, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the second quarter worth about $4,582,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% 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.