Boenning & Scattergood analyst Erik Zwick maintained a Hold rating on Webster Financial (WBS) today. The company’s shares closed on Thursday at $51.66.
Zwick observed:
“We are maintaining our Neutral rating on shares of WBS with the stock trading at a premium to peers on forward P/E 2019 (12.4x vs. 11.4x) and price-to-tangible book (2.1x vs. 1.8x). Webster’s commercial banking and HSA units continue to produce strong growth. With an 83% loan-to-deposit ratio, >70% of loans pricing on a floating or periodic basis, and 0.74% cost of funds, the bank has reaped the benefits from the Fed’s rate hiking agenda. Fed now taking a more dovish tone, Webster has started to pare back its asset sensitivity through purchases of investment securities and residential mortgages. Consequently, we have removed any future Fed Funds rate hikes from our model and now expect NIM compression over the next few quarters. Thus, we believe the stock is fairly valued today and do not see any catalysts that would warrant above average P/E multiple expansion.”
According to TipRanks.com, Zwick is a 1-star analyst with an average return of -0.3% and a 49.0% success rate. Zwick covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as The First Of Long Island Corp, Provident Financial Services, and Bankwell Financial Group.
Webster Financial has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $61.50.
See today’s analyst top recommended stocks >>
The company has a one-year high of $69.63 and a one-year low of $45.38. Currently, Webster Financial has an average volume of 511.8K.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 78 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. Most recently, in February 2019, Laurence Morse, a Director at WBS bought 5,088 shares for a total of $26,152.
TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.
Webster Financial Corp. operates as a holding company for Webster Bank NA. It engages in providing financial services to individuals, families and businesses. It offers equipment financing, commercial real estate lending and asset-based lending services.
