Inspire Investing LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 12th, 2023

Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS – Get Rating) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,679,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $799,122,000 after purchasing an additional 116,092 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,297,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,204 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 68.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,511,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,534,000 after buying an additional 3,061,831 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 0.6% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,993,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,466,000 after buying an additional 31,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 219.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,782,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,381,000 after buying an additional 3,285,002 shares in the last quarter. 85.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WBS shares. Raymond James decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Webster Financial from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.20.

Webster Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WBS opened at $37.46 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.38. The stock has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $36.03 and a one year high of $56.46.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $704.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.52 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 23.64% and a return on equity of 12.42%. Webster Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 122.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Webster Financial Co. will post 6.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 3rd. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.07%.

About Webster Financial

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Webster Financial Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. It operates through the following business segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Retail Banking. The Commercial Banking segment includes commercial banking and private banking.