Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 161,323 Shares of Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Webster Financial Corporation by 82.7%, selling 161,323 shares and retaining 33,823 shares valued at $1,847,000 by the end of the quarter.
• Webster Financial reported a quarterly earnings of $1.52 EPS, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.09, with revenue increasing 16.5% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, yielding 2.7%, with an ex-dividend date of August 11th.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 82.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 161,323 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 699.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 137,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,100,000 after acquiring an additional 120,516 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 166.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 77,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,975,000 after buying an additional 6,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of WBS opened at $59.84 on Friday. Webster Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $39.43 and a twelve month high of $63.99. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $59.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.20.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $716.59 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 20.06% and a return on equity of 10.84%. The firm's revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Webster Financial Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Webster Financial news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.31, for a total transaction of $196,007.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,755 shares in the company, valued at $950,184.05. This represents a 17.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Atwell sold 16,823 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total transaction of $995,921.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,830,168. The trade was a 35.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,445 shares of company stock worth $2,168,537 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.73.

Webster Financial Company 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.

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