Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires Shares of 469 Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Webster Financial during the third quarter valued at $286,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Webster Financial by 29.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 236,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,012,000 after buying an additional 53,950 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Webster Financial by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 212,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,894,000 after purchasing an additional 44,000 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Webster Financial by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 78,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,652,000 after purchasing an additional 5,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Webster Financial by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Webster Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Webster Financial stock opened at $50.90 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.20. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Webster Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $39.34 and a 52-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 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. The business had revenue of $661.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.53 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 18.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Insider Activity at Webster Financial

In related news, CEO John R. Ciulla sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.43, for a total transaction of $459,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,228.93. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laurence C. Morse sold 13,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total value of $780,728.19. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,988.56. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Webster Financial from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Webster Financial from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com raised Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Webster Financial from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.08.

Webster Financial 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.