Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Research Coverage Started at Stephens

Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $160.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.62.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $132.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.54. Wintrust Financial has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $162.96.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 12.95%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total value of $45,665.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,152.21. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.16, for a total transaction of $365,253.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,130.08. This trade represents a 11.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $111,924,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $90,187,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,287,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 417.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,116,000 after purchasing an additional 408,925 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at $44,085,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.