Earnest Partners LLC Has $162.11 Million Holdings in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Webster Financial Corporation by 0.3%, now holding approximately 3.14 million shares valued at $162.11 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Webster Financial, with Barclays increasing it from $72 to $77 and Citigroup from $65 to $71, while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Webster Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share and initiated a stock buyback program worth $700 million.

Earnest Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,144,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,523 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 1.87% of Webster Financial worth $162,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Penbrook Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 5.2% in the first quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 43.7% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.24. 928,210 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,140,845. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.38. Webster Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $39.43 and a 12 month high of $63.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

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

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Webster Financial news, Director William L. Atwell sold 16,823 shares of Webster Financial 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $463,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 239,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,900,582.40. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,445 shares of company stock worth $2,250,007 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Webster Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial upped 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Webster Financial from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.77.

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.