Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Price Target Raised to $156.00

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its target price boosted by Piper Sandler from $151.00 to $156.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $131.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E 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 has a 1 year low of $89.68 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $131.10 and a 200-day moving average of $116.81.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.46%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 379,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,316,000 after acquiring an additional 65,092 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,790,000 after buying an additional 28,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.