Analysts Set Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) Price Target at $74.25

Shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.5769.

WBS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 95.4% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 33,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,294,000 after acquiring an additional 16,132 shares during the period. Whitebox Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $133,634,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Webster Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $101,039,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $58,026,000. Finally, Vazirani Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial in the second quarter worth about $3,056,800. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Webster Financial stock opened at $77.57 on Friday. Webster Financial has a 1-year low of $52.69 and a 1-year high of $79.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.84.

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

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Webster Financial Company Profile

Webster Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Webster Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Through its banking operations, the company provides commercial and retail banking services to businesses, individuals and institutions.

Webster Bank offers lending, deposit, cash management, treasury, payment and wealth management services. Its commercial banking activities serve middle-market companies, commercial real estate borrowers, municipalities and other organizations, while its retail banking business provides checking, savings, mortgage and consumer lending products.