Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Lauren States Sells 1,650 Shares

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Lauren States sold 1,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total value of $99,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $910,393.80. The trade was a 9.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WBS stock opened at $59.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.73. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $39.33 and a one year high of $61.12.

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

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,926,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $910,117,000 after purchasing an additional 54,841 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 4.8% in 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,237,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $316,678,000 after purchasing an additional 95,780 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,206,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,086,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,524,000 after purchasing an additional 13,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.85.

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.