Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $133.69.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com downgraded Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $107.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.78.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 19.40%.

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.