Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th.

Webster Financial has a payout ratio of 23.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Webster Financial to earn $6.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

WBS opened at $60.19 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.95. The firm has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.30. Webster Financial has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. The company had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Webster Financial will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Webster Financial news, Director Lauren States sold 1,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total transaction of $99,990.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $910,393.80. This represents a 9.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Javier L. Evans sold 10,137 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $581,965.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,738.37. This represents a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,287 shares of company stock worth $1,485,050 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Stephens set a $58.00 price target on Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.08.

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.