Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Has $115,000 Position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 47.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WBS. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the third quarter worth $53,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 88.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 45.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 17.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In related news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total value of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $780,728.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

WBS stock opened at $51.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Webster Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $39.34 and a 52-week high of $63.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is presently 36.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.08.

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.