Webster Financial Corporation $WBS Holdings Reduced by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 53,689 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $3,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,296,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,165,000 after acquiring an additional 246,774 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,453,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,576,000 after purchasing an additional 438,131 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $131,780,000. Azora Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 1,886,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,997,000 after buying an additional 440,347 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 1.5% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,612,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,057,000 after purchasing an additional 23,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WBS. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Webster Financial from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total value of $443,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 231,872 shares in the company, valued at $12,857,302.40. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE WBS opened at $65.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.51 and a 200-day moving average of $60.35. Webster Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $39.43 and a 52-week high of $67.43.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 27.07%.

Webster Financial Company 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.