Tidal Investments LLC Raises Position in Webster Financial Corporation $WBS

Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) by 552.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 86,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,486 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Webster Financial worth $6,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WBS. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,182,130,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Webster Financial by 7,323.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,308,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,438,000 after acquiring an additional 14,115,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Webster Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $142,035,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $154,797,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings 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 worth $120,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,985 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WBS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Webster Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Webster Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Webster Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.58.

Webster Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:WBS opened at $77.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.84. Webster Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $52.69 and a 12 month high of $79.74.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $769.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $755.80 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 11.23%. Webster Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Webster Financial Corporation will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Webster Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 26.02%.

About Webster Financial

Webster Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Webster Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Through its banking operations, the company provides commercial and retail banking services to businesses, individuals and institutions.

Webster Bank offers lending, deposit, cash management, treasury, payment and wealth management services. Its commercial banking activities serve middle-market companies, commercial real estate borrowers, municipalities and other organizations, while its retail banking business provides checking, savings, mortgage and consumer lending products.