AXQ Capital LP Makes New Investment in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 7,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 18.7% in 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 raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC increased its stake in Webster Financial by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 68,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,740,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 27.9% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WBS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Santander downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Webster Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.96.

Webster Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WBS opened at $72.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.00. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.66 and a 1-year high of $74.00.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. The company 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is 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.