Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Increases Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 1,253.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,120,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,038,085 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.65% of Webster Financial worth $61,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 88.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 742.7% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WBS shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $60.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy 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 $62.73.

Webster Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WBS traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.74. 926,844 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,251,202. The company has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $48.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.30. Webster Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $39.34 and a 12 month high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $704.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $708.46 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The company's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Webster Financial's payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Webster Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,217 shares of company stock valued at $1,386,244. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Webster Financial Profile

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.