Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.92.

WTFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays cut their target price on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,048 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 26,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $97.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.73. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $58.12 and a twelve month high of $105.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 17.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.61%.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services.