Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $78.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Webster Financial traded as high as $77.70 and last traded at $77.70, with a volume of 5185 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.22.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,920,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $498,509,000 after acquiring an additional 107,335 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,516,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,184,000 after purchasing an additional 156,636 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,246,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,207,000 after purchasing an additional 713,294 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,177,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,058,000 after purchasing an additional 16,676 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 67.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,727,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,780,000 after buying an additional 1,504,075 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Webster Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.07 and a 200-day moving average of $71.84.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $769.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.80 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 22.78%.The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.02%.

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.