Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $165.3077.

WTFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC stock opened at $149.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $147.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $162.96.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total value of $45,665.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,152.21. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,725,456.45. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $172,204,000 after buying an additional 75,155 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 73,013.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,616,000 after acquiring an additional 42,348 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 417.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,116,000 after acquiring an additional 408,925 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,718,000 after acquiring an additional 11,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,413,000 after purchasing an additional 8,758 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.