Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Has Average Target Price of $176.29

Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $176.29.

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Wintrust Financial from $183.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $186.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total value of $2,199,836.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares in the company, valued at $27,092,903.73. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,058,088,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,830,268 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $254,297,000 after acquiring an additional 385,069 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,021,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 595,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,785,000 after purchasing an additional 69,444 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 589,731 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,456,000 after purchasing an additional 16,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $143.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.89. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $119.61 and a 1-year high of $167.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $151.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.94.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.15. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 20.72%. The company had revenue of $738.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.67%.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC) is a financial holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Founded in 1991, the company operates a network of community banks serving individuals, families and businesses primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.

Wintrust’s banking subsidiaries provide deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgages, treasury management, trust and investment services, and other traditional banking products.