In a report released today, Erik Zwick from Boenning & Scattergood maintained a Hold rating on Webster Financial (NYSE: WBS). The company’s shares closed yesterday at $60.91.
Zwick wrote:
“We maintain our Neutral rating on shares of WBS with the stock trading at a significant premium to peers on forward P/E 2019 (15.2x vs. 11.6x) and price-to-tangible book (2.7x vs. 1.9x). Webster’s asset-sensitive balance sheet and commercial growth engine continue to produce strong core results. With an 83% loan-to-deposit ratio, 72% of loans pricing on floating or periodic basis, and 63% cost of funds, the bank is well positioned to reap the benefits of additional increases in interest rates. While we remain complimentary of the bank’s strategy to harness the strengths of its commercial bank and HSA business lines, we think profitability improvements will occur at a steady pace as opposed to larger jumps. 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 2-star analyst with an average return of 1.6% and a 47.4% success rate. Zwick covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Provident Financial Services, Bankwell Financial Group, and Community Bank System.
Webster Financial has an analyst consensus of Hold, with a price target consensus of $67.50.
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Webster Financial’s market cap is currently $5.61B and has a P/E ratio of 19.61. The company has a Price to Book ratio of 2.14.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 84 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. Earlier this month, Mark Pettie, a Director at WBS bought 8,000 shares for a total of $41,120.
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.
