Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 69.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 359,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 811,567 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $24,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Webster Financial by 183.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 60,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,193,000 after purchasing an additional 39,087 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Webster Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Webster Financial by 4,807.2% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 637,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,993,000 after buying an additional 624,648 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Webster Financial by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Webster Financial by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBS has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned 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 Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:WBS opened at $75.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.00. Webster Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $52.69 and a 52 week high of $77.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.25 and a 200 day moving average of $71.06.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $764.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Webster Financial’s payout ratio is 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.