WATERBURY, Conn. – Webster Financial Corp., the parent of Webster Bank, has been downgraded by an analyst after the bank posted a first-quarter loss of $11.3 million.
The firm FBR Capital Markets dropped Webster (NYSE: WBS) from “market perform” to “underperform” on April 23, two days after the loss was reported compared with a year-ago profit of $24.4 million.
The company’s share prices have ranged from $2.85 to $31.0 in the past year. At the close of trading last Wednesday, the price stood at $5.29.
The downgrade came the same day that Webster, which has $17.5 billion in assets, was mentioned by two analysts in a Reuters article – including one from FBR – as a possible takeover target for Bridgeport, Conn.-based People’s United Financial Inc., which has about $20 billion in assets.
“[People’s United] wants a high-quality commercial bank at a bargain price and there are not a whole lot of banks in that category now,” Anthony Polini, an analyst at Raymond James, told Reuters.
Other targets mentioned in the article included: Rockland, Mass.-based Independent Bancorp, the parent of Rockland Trust, as well as Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., Signature Bank in New York City, Fulton Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., and Wilmington Trust Corp. in Wilmington, Del.
People’s United spokesman Brent DiGiorgio declined to comment on the institutions specifically, Reuters said. But he said the company was actively seeking acquisitions of like-minded banks located between Maine to Washington, D.C.
Webster Financial Corp. (NYSE: WBS) – a $17.1 billion company based in Waterbury, Conn. – is the holding company for Webster Bank N.A., a financial services company with more than 180 branches including 10 branches in Rhode Island. Additional information is available at www.WebsterOnline.com.
