Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Price Target to $58.00

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $58.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WBS. Raymond James reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Webster Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $56.23.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock opened at $45.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.33. Webster Financial has a 12 month low of $31.03 and a 12 month high of $53.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.48.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.02). Webster Financial had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The company had revenue of $667.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $680.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial will post 5.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 32.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, insider Christopher J. Motl sold 10,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $548,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,317,234.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Webster Financial news, insider Christopher J. Motl sold 10,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $548,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,317,234.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total value of $697,005.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 89,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,975 shares of company stock valued at $1,341,095 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WBS. FMR LLC grew its position in Webster Financial by 22.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,258,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,862 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Webster Financial by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,916,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,785,000 after acquiring an additional 430,331 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Webster Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,732,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,165,000 after acquiring an additional 48,445 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Webster Financial by 8.4% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,394,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,540,000 after acquiring an additional 184,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Webster Financial by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,520,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.