Webster Financial Corporation $WBS Stake Reduced by Orange Investment Advisors Inc.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 37,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,926 shares during the quarter. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $2,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Webster Financial by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Curi Capital LLC raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 68,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,740,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Webster Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Webster Financial Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:WBS opened at $72.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Webster Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.81 and a fifty-two week high of $74.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.87. The stock has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.02.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.04. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 22.95%.The company had revenue of $764.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is currently 26.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial downgraded Webster Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Webster Financial from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Webster Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.96.

Webster Financial Company Profile

Webster Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut. Through its principal subsidiary, Webster Bank, N.A., the company offers a broad range of banking products and financial services to individuals, small businesses, and middle-market commercial clients. Key offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, equipment finance, treasury management, and payment processing solutions.

In addition to traditional banking services, Webster Financial provides wealth management and insurance products designed to help clients plan for retirement, preserve assets, and manage risk.