Fifth Third Bancorp Has $4.19 Million Holdings in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 183.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 60,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,087 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $4,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $142,035,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 7,442.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,032,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,838,000 after buying an additional 2,005,985 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $109,754,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 221.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group began coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.96.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WBS opened at $75.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.19 and a 200-day moving average of $70.93. Webster Financial Corporation has a one year low of $52.69 and a one year high of $77.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $764.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Webster Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 26.19%.

About Webster Financial

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.