Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on WTFC. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC traded up $1.80 on Friday, reaching $125.81. 250,215 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 318,357. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $89.68 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.07.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after acquiring an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 286,341 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,076,000 after purchasing an additional 16,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.