Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

WTFC opened at $125.81 on Friday. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $89.68 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $128.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.21.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,604.04. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 28,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 2.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,682,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.