Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) Shares Acquired by BCGM Wealth Management LLC

BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. BCGM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WBS. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in Webster Financial by 118.4% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 171.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William L. Atwell sold 16,823 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total value of $995,921.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,830,168. The trade was a 35.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.31, for a total value of $196,007.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $950,184.05. The trade was a 17.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,838 shares of company stock worth $2,318,109 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WBS. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Webster Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Webster Financial from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.77.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Webster Financial stock opened at $57.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $39.43 and a 1 year high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.09. Webster Financial had a net margin of 20.06% and a return on equity of 10.84%. The business had revenue of $715.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.59 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.45%.

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.