Raymond James Reiterates “Strong-Buy” Rating for Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $150.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $135.00. Raymond James’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.82% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on WTFC. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $131.79 on Thursday. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $89.68 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.68. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $559,364,000 after buying an additional 637,072 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after purchasing an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after buying an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,464,000 after buying an additional 92,995 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.