Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its Webster Financial stake by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,308 shares and ending with 246,620 shares valued at about $15.5 million.
• Institutional ownership in Webster Financial remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 85.58% of the stock. Several large firms, including Dimensional Fund Advisors and Invesco, increased their positions in recent quarters.
• Webster Financial posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also paying a $0.40 quarterly dividend that implies a 2.2% annual yield. Analysts currently rate the stock mostly Hold, with an average price target of $73.96.

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 246,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,308 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.15% of Webster Financial worth $15,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WBS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,812,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,402,000 after purchasing an additional 189,399 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,359,474 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $318,567,000 after purchasing an additional 63,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,160,605 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $247,340,000 after purchasing an additional 89,723 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,163,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $188,016,000 after purchasing an additional 18,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,070,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $123,042,000 after purchasing an additional 817,218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WBS shares. Citigroup lowered Webster Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group started coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.96.

Webster Financial Trading Down 0.4%

WBS opened at $72.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $71.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.63. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.24 and a 1-year high of $74.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.02.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.04. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $764.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.19%.

Webster Financial Company 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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