Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Acquires 16,132 Shares of Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Key Points

• Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in Webster Financial by 95.4% in the first quarter, buying 16,132 additional shares and lifting its total holdings to 33,038 shares worth about $2.29 million.
• Webster Financial reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with EPS of $1.57 versus estimates of $1.53 and revenue of $764.05 million, up 4.4% from a year earlier.
• The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying an annualized yield of 2.1%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $73.96.

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) by 95.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,132 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC's holdings in Webster Financial were worth $2,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,920,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $498,509,000 after acquiring an additional 107,335 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised 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 valued at $347,184,000 after acquiring an additional 156,636 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,246,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $330,207,000 after purchasing an additional 713,294 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,177,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $263,058,000 after purchasing an additional 16,676 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position 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 worth $188,016,000 after purchasing an additional 18,860 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Webster Financial Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:WBS opened at $75.54 on Monday. Webster Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $52.69 and a 1 year high of $76.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.68.

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

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WBS. UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Santander cut Webster Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.96.

About Webster Financial

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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