Citigroup Lowers Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Price Target to $113.00

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $112.33.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $99.30 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.16. Wintrust Financial has a fifty-two week low of $58.12 and a fifty-two week high of $105.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $943,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 46.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 202,381 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,127,000 after acquiring an additional 64,256 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,063 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 157.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 190,416 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,878,000 after acquiring an additional 116,503 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

About Wintrust Financial

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.