Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Position in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,370,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,973 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.85% of Webster Financial worth $95,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WBS. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,253,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 95.4% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 33,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 16,132 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 18.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 519,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,865,000 after purchasing an additional 80,038 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 478.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 246,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,521,000 after purchasing an additional 203,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Webster Financial by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,726,000 after purchasing an additional 356,144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Webster Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.96.

Webster Financial Price Performance

WBS opened at $75.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.06. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $52.69 and a 1 year high of $77.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $764.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. Webster Financial’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.19%.

Webster Financial Company Profile

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.