American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Position in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Webster Financial Corporation by 1.6%, acquiring an additional 48,942 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 1.79% valued at $155,457,000.
• Webster Financial recently announced a $700 million share buyback plan, indicating management believes its stock is undervalued.
• The company reported Q2 earnings with EPS of $1.52, exceeding expectations and representing a 16.5% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,015,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 48,942 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.79% of Webster Financial worth $155,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,108,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,408,000 after purchasing an additional 487,264 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 673,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,703,000 after acquiring an additional 187,648 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 234.5% during the 1st quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 20,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $23,603,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Webster Financial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,049,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $260,291,000 after acquiring an additional 153,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WBS traded up $0.4560 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.3860. 569,313 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,304,462. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. Webster Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $39.43 and a twelve month high of $63.99. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $56.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $715.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.59 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 20.06%.The firm's revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Webster Financial Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Webster Financial news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 3,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.31, for a total value of $196,007.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $950,184.05. This represents a 17.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Javier L. Evans sold 7,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total value of $410,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,820 shares in the company, valued at $1,042,135.60. This represents a 28.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,638 shares of company stock valued at $2,721,745 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $60.00 target price on Webster Financial and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Webster Financial from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Webster Financial from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.77.

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.