Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Holdings in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 218,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,711,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.13% of Webster Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 2.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,866,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $114,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Webster Financial by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 40,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,069,000 after acquiring an additional 5,299 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Webster Financial by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,658,000 after acquiring an additional 176,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 476,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,543,000 after purchasing an additional 20,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WBS shares. Barclays increased their target price on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.25.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock opened at $77.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.01. Webster Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $52.69 and a twelve month high of $79.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $77.08 and its 200 day moving average is $73.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $769.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $755.80 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 22.78%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.02%.

About Webster Financial

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.