Wintrust Financial’s (WTFC) “Strong-Buy” Rating Reiterated at Raymond James

Raymond James restated their strong-buy rating on shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a $150.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $135.00.

WTFC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $131.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.81. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $89.68 and a 1-year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted 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 last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 17.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 910.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 20,181 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,183 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $446,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 25.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,602,000 after purchasing an additional 29,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.