Analyst notes

Raymond James analyst William Wallace said Waterbury, Conn.-based Webster Financial Corp.'s deal to acquire cloud-based platform solution provider Bend Financial Inc. is reflective of management's efforts to increase technology investments and enhance the scale of unit HSA Bank.

Wallace said when Webster announced its merger with Sterling Bancorp last year, one of the reasons was that the combined scale of the organizations would allow it to invest more in technology, especially within HSA Bank.

"This investment checks both of those boxes, and investments like this should help bring the relative size of HSA Bank back to where it was pre-merger (at 4Q21, before deal close, HSA deposits were 25% of total deposits)," Wallace said.

For Webster Financial, the analyst's non-GAAP EPS estimates for 2022 and 2023 were set at $5.15 and $5.70, respectively.