Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $75.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $70.00.

WBS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Webster Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.46.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS opened at $55.30 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Webster Financial has a 52-week low of $39.33 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Webster Financial will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Pettie sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total transaction of $230,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,676,369.20. The trade was a 12.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 3,463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total value of $180,422.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,460.90. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,105,322 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBS. State Street Corp grew its stake in Webster Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,229,000 after acquiring an additional 333,606 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Webster Financial by 28.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,575 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,086,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,524,000 after purchasing an additional 13,487 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Webster Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,969,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,465,000 after purchasing an additional 54,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,640,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,096,000 after buying an additional 301,935 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.