California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 7,725 Shares of Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 327,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,725 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $22,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,253,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 95.4% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 33,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 16,132 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 478.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 246,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,521,000 after purchasing an additional 203,989 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,726,000 after purchasing an additional 356,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $2,612,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Webster Financial Stock Up 0.7%

Webster Financial stock opened at $76.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.43 and its 200-day moving average is $71.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.00. Webster Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $52.69 and a fifty-two week high of $77.69.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.01). Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $739.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WBS. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.04.

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.