BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Buys New Stake in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 190,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,960,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Webster Financial by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Webster Financial by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Curi Capital LLC lifted its position in Webster Financial by 0.3% during the second quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 68,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,740,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Webster Financial by 27.9% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Webster Financial by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WBS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.96.

Webster Financial Stock Down 0.4%

WBS stock opened at $72.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Webster Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $50.24 and a 52 week high of $74.00.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $764.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.19%.

Webster Financial 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.