Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $175.50.

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson set a $180.00 price objective on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Citigroup downgraded Wintrust Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial set a $165.00 target price on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $195.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $151.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $148.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.42. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $122.00 and a 1-year high of $167.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.87%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total value of $1,060,837.76. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,107 shares in the company, valued at $4,475,706.62. This represents a 19.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total transaction of $2,199,836.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,092,903.73. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $168,021,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 117,250 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,628,000 after buying an additional 8,873 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,320,000. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 56,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,158,000 after buying an additional 6,214 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $866,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a bank holding company founded in 1991 and headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through a network of locally operated community banks, it serves individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations, primarily in the Chicago area and surrounding parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

The company offers consumer and commercial banking services, including deposit accounts, business and personal loans, cash management and treasury services. Its other businesses provide mortgage lending, wealth management and specialty finance services.

Wintrust’s community banking model combines local banking brands and decision-making with the resources of a larger financial organization.