By Ashleigh Rogers:
Webster Financial Corp. (WBS) is a small-cap ($2.6B) Waterbury CT-based financial firm with a bank (Webster Bank) and insurance subsidiary (Webster Insurance). The firm has roughly 169 branch offices spread across Connecticut, Rhode Island, Westchester County NY, and Massachusetts. The firm trades at a reasonable P/E (~14.6X), has solid Tier 1 reserves (~11.4%), growing EPS, and a decent though not spectacular dividend yield (~2%).
In summary, Webster is exactly the kind of long-term financial industry investment I look for, but right now company has a pretty fair valuation. Given that I think the firm is a good investment for those looking to invest for the long term, but it probably doesn't have much upside in the near-term. In fact, the company's stock has already had a pretty good year advancing from around $22 to near $30 today. Given this run, investors should either plan on holding WBS for the long
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