Pzena Investment Management LLC Has $80.47 Million Stock Position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

Pzena Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,726,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,634 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 1.01% of Webster Financial worth $80,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,926,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $910,117,000 after buying an additional 54,841 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Webster Financial by 1.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,237,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $316,678,000 after purchasing an additional 95,780 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Webster Financial by 28.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,522,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,687,000 after buying an additional 1,206,575 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,086,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,524,000 after buying an additional 13,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Webster Financial by 12.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,640,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,096,000 after acquiring an additional 301,935 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stephens set a $58.00 target price on Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Webster Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Webster Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Webster Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lauren States sold 1,650 shares of Webster Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $910,393.80. This trade represents a 9.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Javier L. Evans sold 10,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 30.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,750 shares of company stock worth $1,302,227 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Down 1.2 %

Webster Financial stock traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.23. The stock had a trading volume of 254,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,667. Webster Financial Co. has a one year low of $39.33 and a one year high of $61.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.73. The company has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $647.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 18.80% and a return on equity of 11.03%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.28%.

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.