Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Director Maureen Mitchell Purchases 520 Shares of Stock

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS – Get Rating) Director Maureen Mitchell acquired 520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.51 per share, with a total value of $25,225.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $381,870.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

WBS stock opened at $47.18 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.68. Webster Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $45.60 and a 12-month high of $65.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.14. Webster Financial had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 11.74%. The firm had revenue of $498.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 65.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 12th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 51.61%.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,123,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,599,000 after acquiring an additional 213,872 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,864,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,170,000 after buying an additional 326,552 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 4,235,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,531,000 after buying an additional 64,316 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 2.7% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,329,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,705,000 after buying an additional 61,339 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 561.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,034,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,186,000 after buying an additional 1,726,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.99% of the company’s stock.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WBS. Raymond James raised shares of Webster Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Webster Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

About Webster Financial (Get Rating)

Webster Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Webster Bank, National Association that provides a range of banking, investment, and financial services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Retail Banking.

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