Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 14,919 Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,140,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WBS. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,253,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in Webster Financial by 95.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 16,132 shares during the period. Whitebox Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the first quarter worth about $133,634,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the second quarter worth about $747,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $101,039,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WBS. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.25.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WBS opened at $77.57 on Friday. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $52.69 and a 1 year high of $79.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.44.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $769.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $755.80 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 22.78%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

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