Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $190.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $195.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. UBS Group raised Wintrust Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $165.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.50.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.2%

WTFC traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $157.67. 22,653 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 516,564. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $148.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Wintrust Financial has a 52-week low of $122.00 and a 52-week high of $167.21. The company has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.89.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The bank reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.06. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.03%. The business had revenue of $757.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $754.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.06 earnings per share. Wintrust Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 13.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 7,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total transaction of $1,060,837.76. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,475,706.62. This represents a 19.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total transaction of $2,199,836.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 166,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,092,903.73. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,058,088,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the second quarter worth about $168,021,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,734,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,391,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,830,268 shares of the bank’s stock worth $254,297,000 after buying an additional 385,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC) is a financial holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its network of community banking subsidiaries, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgages, treasury management, cash management and other deposit services. Wintrust also provides wealth management, investment services, insurance-related products and specialized finance solutions, including equipment finance and premium finance.

Founded in 1991, Wintrust has built its business through a community banking model that combines local decision-making and relationship-based service with the resources of a larger financial organization.