Webster Financial faces a 53% month-over-month jump in short interest to 6.5% of float ahead of Q1 results Monday, while analyst downgrades pile up.
Short interest sits at 10.47 million shares as of April 23, representing 6.49% of free float. That marks a sharp 53% climb over the past month and a 2.6% rise over the past week. The data, refreshed daily through ORTEX estimates, shows accelerating bearish positioning into the print. Days to cover stands at 2.53 based on the latest official filing. Cost to borrow rose 22% over the past week to 0.49%, though it remains subdued. Utilisation ticked up to 0.87%, still well below the 52-week high of 6.56%.
Put/call ratio hit 1.56 on April 24, running 1.23 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 1.11. That places it in the upper half of the 52-week range (0.22 to 2.24). The elevated PCR reflects defensive positioning ahead of the report.
Consensus data is unavailable, but recent firm-level moves tell a bearish story. UBS assumed coverage with a Neutral rating on April 7 and lowered its price target to $69 from $75. Wells Fargo downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight on March 3, holding its $70 target. Citigroup cut to Neutral from Buy on February 13, keeping the $75 target. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its Outperform target to $79 from $77 on March 2, one of the few bullish notes. The mean price target across coverage sits at $73.75, implying minimal upside from the current $71.81 close.
P/E stands at 10.46, up 0.28 points over the past month. P/B sits at 1.12, rising 0.03 over the same period. The stock ranks in the 36th percentile on 30-day EPS momentum and the 27th percentile on 12-month forward EPS growth, per ORTEX factor scores. Dividend score ranks in the 73rd percentile.
Insiders sold $5.3 million net over the past 90 days, with C-level executives and division heads all trimming positions at $71.40 in early March. Vanguard holds 10.2% of shares, BlackRock 9.2%, and Dimensional Fund Advisors 4.9%. All three added modestly in Q1.
WBS last reported on January 23. Prior prints have clustered around late January in recent cycles.
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