Webster Financial (WBS) Competitors

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) and M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is WBS or MTB a better dividend stock?

Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. M&T Bank pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Webster Financial pays out 36.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. M&T Bank pays out 36.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Webster Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of WBS or MTB?

85.6% of Webster Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.7% of M&T Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Webster Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of M&T Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WBS or MTB?

Webster Financial received 287 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.73% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote while only 45.76% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Webster Financial	Outperform Votes 535 58.73%	Underperform Votes 376 41.27%
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 248 45.76%	Underperform Votes 294 54.24%

Does the media refer more to WBS or MTB?

In the previous week, M&T Bank had 10 more articles in the media than Webster Financial. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for M&T Bank and 7 mentions for Webster Financial. M&T Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat Webster Financial's score of 0.93 indicating that M&T Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Webster Financial	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
M&T Bank	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & valuation, WBS or MTB?

M&T Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Webster Financial. Webster Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than M&T Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Webster Financial	$4.18B	2.29	$768.71M	$4.37	12.76
M&T Bank	$13.45B	2.39	$2.59B	$14.63	13.23

Do analysts prefer WBS or MTB?

Webster Financial currently has a consensus price target of $62.08, indicating a potential upside of 11.35%. M&T Bank has a consensus price target of $221.68, indicating a potential upside of 14.57%. Given M&T Bank's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe M&T Bank is more favorable than Webster Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
M&T Bank	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41

Which has more risk and volatility, WBS or MTB?

Webster Financial has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, M&T Bank has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WBS or MTB more profitable?

M&T Bank has a net margin of 19.24% compared to Webster Financial's net margin of 18.39%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.82% beat M&T Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Webster Financial	18.39%	10.82%	1.21%
M&T Bank	19.24%	10.12%	1.25%

Summary

Webster Financial and M&T Bank tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.