Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two 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 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $165.3077.

WTFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 46,049 shares in the company, valued at $6,725,456.45. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen M. Boege sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total transaction of $731,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,613.54. This represents a 17.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730 over the last quarter. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 231.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 229 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 72.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $132.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.64. Wintrust Financial has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $162.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.30%.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.