Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its Wintrust Financial price target from $160 to $165 but maintained an “equal weight” rating; the new target implies 6.45% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment overall is more positive: Wintrust has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $175.86, with 10 Buy and four Hold ratings.
• In its latest reported quarter, Wintrust beat earnings and revenue estimates, posting EPS of $3.37 and revenue of $757.88 million; revenue rose 8.6% year over year.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the bank's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.45% from the stock's previous close.

WTFC has been the topic of several other reports. Capital One Financial set a $170.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group raised Wintrust Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Wintrust Financial from $183.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Ten equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.86.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC traded up $3.73 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $155.00. 16,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,299. The company has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.86. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $122.00 and a 12-month high of $167.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $148.23 and a 200 day moving average of $150.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The bank reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.06. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $757.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $754.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 13.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard Murphy sold 7,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO David Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 13.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 493,964 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,054,000 after acquiring an additional 56,641 shares during the period. Legacy Trust acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth about $1,112,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 298.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 51,293 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,276,000 after acquiring an additional 38,421 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 4,261 shares of the bank's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.

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