Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Acquires 2,449 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,449 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 33,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 192.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 16,124 shares in the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 29,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 7,268 shares during the period. Roubaix Capital LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,051,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 183,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,327,000 after purchasing an additional 6,761 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Webster Financial Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of WBS stock opened at $43.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.41. Webster Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $34.85 and a 1 year high of $53.39.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.02). Webster Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 21.09%. The company had revenue of $667.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $680.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Webster Financial news, insider Daniel Bley sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.80, for a total transaction of $102,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,693 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,446.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WBS. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Webster Financial from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.23.

About Webster Financial

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.