Raymond James Financial Reiterates Outperform Rating for Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has maintained an "outperform" rating for Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) with a revised price target of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.15% from the current stock price.
• Webster Financial's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.54, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a year-over-year increase from $1.34 EPS.
• Institutional investors hold a significant portion of Webster Financial, with 85.58% of stock owned by them, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by Raymond James Financial in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, down from their prior price target of $68.00. Raymond James Financial's target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.15% from the company's current price.

WBS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial set a $67.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Webster Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.69.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Webster Financial stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $54.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 990,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,329,535. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.05. Webster Financial has a fifty-two week low of $39.43 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $732.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $725.22 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 21.32% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Webster Financial will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Webster Financial

In other news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $463,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 239,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,900,582.40. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Elzbieta Cieslik sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.58, for a total transaction of $123,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,172.52. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,880 shares of company stock worth $1,890,456. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Webster Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $131,780,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 221.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,483,000 after buying an additional 1,077,819 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,108,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,408,000 after buying an additional 487,264 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $23,603,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Webster Financial by 30.5% in the 2nd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 1,886,385 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $102,997,000 after buying an additional 440,347 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Webster Financial

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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