Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

WTFC stock opened at $132.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $131.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.41. Wintrust Financial has a fifty-two week low of $89.68 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 in the last three months. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 32,926 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,063,000 after purchasing an additional 14,699 shares during the last quarter. 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.