Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Hovde Group

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its price target upped by Hovde Group from $107.00 to $115.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WTFC. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $155.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $110.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.61. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.94.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. The firm had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,911,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $861,932,000 after purchasing an additional 58,162 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $163,767,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,263,837 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,613,000 after buying an additional 337,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,165,898 shares of the bank’s stock worth $145,443,000 after buying an additional 10,172 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.