Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Purchases New Stake in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WBS. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Webster Financial by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,296,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,165,000 after buying an additional 246,774 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Webster Financial by 14.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,453,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,576,000 after acquiring an additional 438,131 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Webster Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $131,780,000. Azora Capital LP lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 30.5% during the second quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 1,886,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,997,000 after purchasing an additional 440,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,652,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,233,000 after purchasing an additional 39,878 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Webster Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.36.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WBS opened at $72.16 on Friday. Webster Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $39.43 and a twelve month high of $73.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 1.07.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.07. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $760.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.07%.

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.