Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.33.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 186,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,440,000 after purchasing an additional 27,660 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,638,085 shares of the bank’s stock worth $171,000,000 after purchasing an additional 72,082 shares in the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter worth $397,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 49,850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the bank’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

WTFC stock opened at $102.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $61.17 and a 12 month high of $105.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.61%.

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.