Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Makes New Investment in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $980,000.

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

Webster Financial Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE WBS opened at $72.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.29 and a 200 day moving average of $67.42. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.24 and a 1 year high of $74.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $764.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WBS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays set a $75.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.96.

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.