Moore Capital Management LP Buys 95,200 Shares of Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Moore Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 53.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 272,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,200 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $17,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $142,035,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 7,442.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,032,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,985 shares during the last quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,465,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Webster Financial by 221.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Webster Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,253,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $79.00 to $77.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Santander lowered shares of Webster Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Webster Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.96.

Webster Financial Stock Up 0.4%

Webster Financial stock opened at $75.15 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.98. Webster Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.66 and a fifty-two week high of $76.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.04. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $764.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Webster Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.19%.

Webster Financial Profile

Webster Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut. Through its principal subsidiary, Webster Bank, N.A., the company offers a broad range of banking products and financial services to individuals, small businesses, and middle-market commercial clients. Key offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, equipment finance, treasury management, and payment processing solutions.

In addition to traditional banking services, Webster Financial provides wealth management and insurance products designed to help clients plan for retirement, preserve assets, and manage risk.