Guru Mariko Gordon (Trades, Portfolio), CFA, founder, CEO and CIO of Daruma Capital Management, acquired a 109,509-share stake in Webster Financial Corp. (WBS, Financial).
Webster Financial has a heritage that dates back to 1935, when 24-year-old Harold Webster Smith founded the bank with $25,000 borrowed from family and friends. Over the next 81 years, the company expanded to become a leading regional bank in the Northeast with more than $24 billion in assets and 180 banking centers from greater New York City to Boston.
Webster Financial offers the following financial services to its clients: Commercial, Retail, Consumer Finance and Other. It also offers equipment financing, commercial real estate lending, asset-based lending, health savings accounts and insurance premium financing on a regional or national basis. The company provides business and consumer banking, mortgage lending, financial planning, trust and investment services through 169 banking offices, 309 owned ATMs, telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet website.
Since founding the investment firm in 1995 with zero assets under management, Gordon has built her portfolio to 50 stocks with an estimated value of $1.598 billion.
Webster Financial is also traded in Germany.
According to GuruFocus Webster Financial has four good signs that could have had an impact on Gordon's investment decision.
- Webster Financial's dividend yield is close to a five-year high at 2.64%.
- The company's operating margin is in expansion with a 7/10 profitability and growth rating.
- The P/S ratio is close to a two-year low at 3.42; the two-year low is 3.13.
- The P/B ratio is close to a one-year low at 1.36; the one-year low is 1.27.
Gordon had the luxury of learning from Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) before she founded Daruma Capital. Gordon learned to invest in companies that have strong balance sheets with increasing free cash flow. Over the previous 12 months, Webster Financial has increased its free cash flow by 12.10%.
Below is a Peter Lynch Chart for Webster Financial.
Cheers to your investment success.
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