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

Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $123.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,452,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,603,000 after acquiring an additional 244,168 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,638,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $171,000,000 after purchasing an additional 72,082 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,063,000 after purchasing an additional 14,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 207,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,495,000 after acquiring an additional 5,563 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $133.66 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.41. Wintrust Financial has a 52-week low of $77.16 and a 52-week high of $134.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.15.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

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.