Man Group plc Acquires New Stake in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Man Group plc bought a new stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 504,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,518,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,182,130,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $142,035,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Webster Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $154,797,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in Webster Financial by 7,442.8% during the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,032,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,838,000 after buying an additional 2,005,985 shares during the period. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Webster Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $133,634,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Webster Financial Price Performance

WBS opened at $77.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.00 and its 200 day moving average is $73.41. Webster Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $52.69 and a fifty-two week high of $79.74.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $769.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $755.80 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 22.78%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.25.

Webster Financial Profile

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.