Horizon Investments LLC Grows Holdings in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,294 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $4,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,812,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,402,000 after purchasing an additional 189,399 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,359,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,567,000 after purchasing an additional 63,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,160,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,340,000 after purchasing an additional 89,723 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,163,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,016,000 after acquiring an additional 18,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,070,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,042,000 after acquiring an additional 817,218 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.96.

Webster Financial Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE WBS opened at $72.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.02. Webster Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $48.37 and a fifty-two week high of $74.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $764.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 22.95%.Webster Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.19%.

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.