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

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

Webster Financial has a payout ratio of 25.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Webster Financial to earn $6.36 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 25.2%.

Webster Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE WBS opened at $45.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.49. The stock has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.33. Webster Financial has a 12-month low of $31.03 and a 12-month high of $53.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $667.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $680.72 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 21.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Webster Financial will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 89,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 89,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher J. Motl sold 10,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $548,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,317,234.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,975 shares of company stock worth $1,341,095 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.23.

Webster Financial Company Profile

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.