F M Investments LLC Takes $2.99 Million Position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 68,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,985,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Webster Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Webster Financial by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Webster Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Webster Financial by 7,650.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Webster Financial by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WBS shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Webster Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.36.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

WBS traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.43. 841,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,241,240. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.84. Webster Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $36.36 and a 12 month high of $53.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.08). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $384,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 237,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,387,833.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $384,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 237,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,387,833.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles L. Wilkins sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.07, for a total value of $245,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,157 shares in the company, valued at $2,215,853.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,650 shares of company stock valued at $706,098 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Company Profile

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.