Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Price Target Raised to $68.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

WBS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.08.

Webster Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WBS opened at $58.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.44. Webster Financial has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687,532.71 billion. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.33, for a total value of $474,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 218,924 shares in the company, valued at $12,988,760.92. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total transaction of $30,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,742.89. This trade represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,485,050. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Webster Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,229,000 after acquiring an additional 333,606 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Webster Financial by 0.4% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,086,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,524,000 after acquiring an additional 13,487 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Webster Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,969,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,465,000 after acquiring an additional 54,613 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Webster Financial by 11.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,874,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,377,000 after acquiring an additional 191,894 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Webster Financial by 5.6% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,777,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,845,000 after acquiring an additional 93,929 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.