Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $133.69.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WTFC shares. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. 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. UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 0.8% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.8% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $112.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $91.38 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $125.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.89.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. 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.