Pzena Investment Management LLC Sells 125,611 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Pzena Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,600,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125,611 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 0.93% of Webster Financial worth $88,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,320,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,229,000 after buying an additional 333,606 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,969,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,465,000 after buying an additional 54,613 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 5.6% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,777,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,845,000 after buying an additional 93,929 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,253,000 after buying an additional 38,713 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Webster Financial by 12.6% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 960,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,763,000 after buying an additional 107,165 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total transaction of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE WBS opened at $47.66 on Tuesday. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $39.34 and a one year high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Webster Financial 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.