Webster Earnings Preview

Watch Webster's (NYSE: WBS  ) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Friday. Webster Financial through its Webster Bank and nonbanking financial services subsidiaries delivers financial services to individuals, families, and businesses throughout southern New England and eastern New York.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Webster, with eight of 14 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Webster better than competitor Boston Private Financial Holdings overall. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $140.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 4.1% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.40 per share. Estimates range from $0.34 to $0.45.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see WBS as a good bet, with 71.1% awarding it an outperform rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars as 67% give it an outperform rating. Fools have embraced Webster, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 46 posts in the past 30 days. Webster's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Webster's revenue has fallen in the past two quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

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