Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%.

Webster Financial has a payout ratio of 24.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Webster Financial to earn $6.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.0%.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Webster Financial stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $59.95. 804,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,102,502. The firm has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.02 and a 200 day moving average of $51.84. Webster Financial has a 12 month low of $39.33 and a 12 month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens set a $58.00 price objective on Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Webster Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Javier L. Evans sold 10,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $581,965.17. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,300,738.37. This trade represents a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.91, for a total value of $30,955.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,742.89. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,287 shares of company stock worth $1,485,050. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.