5,221 Shares in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Bought by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Webster Financial by 340.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 117.9% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total transaction of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at $748,333.39. This represents a 21.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total value of $230,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,676,369.20. This represents a 12.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,250 shares of company stock worth $2,105,322. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WBS opened at $58.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.57. Webster Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $39.33 and a 1 year high of $63.99.

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

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WBS shares. Barclays raised their price target on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.08.

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.