StockNews.com Upgrades Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) to Hold

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.31.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $50.74. 1,017,886 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,142,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.55. Webster Financial has a 12 month low of $31.03 and a 12 month high of $53.39.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $996.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.82 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 22.01%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Webster Financial

In other news, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 89,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,132.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Webster Financial news, insider Jack L. Kopnisky sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.18, for a total value of $250,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 310,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,557,857.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Luis Massiani sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $697,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 89,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,132.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,941 shares of company stock valued at $1,796,482. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Webster Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,679,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $799,122,000 after acquiring an additional 116,092 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 2.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,498,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $689,800,000 after acquiring an additional 362,728 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 18.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,297,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433,204 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 9.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,904,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,587,000 after acquiring an additional 707,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 22.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,258,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,862 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.