Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $133.69.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WTFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last three months. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 buying an additional 131 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $131.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial has a 52-week low of $91.38 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.32 and a 200-day moving average of $119.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

About Wintrust Financial

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.