BlackRock Inc. Purchases New Shares in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,468,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,182,130,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 9.55% of Webster Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Webster Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,920,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $498,509,000 after acquiring an additional 107,335 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,516,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $347,184,000 after purchasing an additional 156,636 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,246,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $330,207,000 after purchasing an additional 713,294 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,177,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $263,058,000 after purchasing an additional 16,676 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 67.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,727,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Webster Financial stock opened at $77.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.01. Webster Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $52.69 and a 12-month high of $79.74. The business's 50-day moving average price is $76.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.24.

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

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Webster Financial's payout ratio is presently 26.02%.

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.

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