Mark Pettie Sells 4,500 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total value of $230,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,676,369.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

WBS stock opened at $51.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.45. Webster Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $36.36 and a twelve month high of $54.38. The firm has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.28.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. The business had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 36.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WBS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Webster Financial from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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, Barclays raised their price target on Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Webster Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 28.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,687,000 after buying an additional 1,206,575 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 64.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,927,000 after buying an additional 631,080 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the third quarter valued at $22,146,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 1,482.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 339,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,801,000 after buying an additional 317,814 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 11.2% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,072,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,997,000 after buying an additional 308,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.