Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $165.3077.

A number of analysts have commented on WTFC shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $176.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $149.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.88. Wintrust Financial has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $162.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $714.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David Eric Lee sold 558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total value of $82,260.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,371,250.70. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,499 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.16, for a total value of $365,253.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,130.08. The trade was a 11.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambient Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $413,000. Compound Planning Inc. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the bank’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 286.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 36,015 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,036,000 after acquiring an additional 26,698 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.