Raymond James Financial Reaffirms "Strong-Buy" Rating for Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Raymond James Financial reaffirmed their strong-buy rating on shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $157.00 price objective on the bank's stock, up from their previous price objective of $155.00.

WTFC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.77.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock traded down $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.11. 475,858 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 469,024. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $124.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.42. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The business had revenue of $670.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 18.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $163,767,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $94,906,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 539.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 594,711 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,881,000 after acquiring an additional 501,669 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth $47,769,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $51,754,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.