Strs Ohio Purchases New Shares in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,914,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Webster Financial by 7.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,108,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,408,000 after purchasing an additional 487,264 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 3.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,049,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $260,291,000 after buying an additional 153,236 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,597,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $237,025,000 after buying an additional 42,406 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 1.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,015,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,457,000 after buying an additional 48,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 1.0% in the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,005,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,830,000 after buying an additional 9,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In other Webster Financial news, CAO Elzbieta Cieslik sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total transaction of $123,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $917,172.52. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 3,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.31, for a total transaction of $196,007.50. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,445 shares of company stock worth $2,168,537 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Webster Financial Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Webster Financial stock opened at $59.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Webster Financial Corporation has a one year low of $39.43 and a one year high of $63.99. The company has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.70.

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

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Webster Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Webster Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.00.

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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