Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Wintrust Financial has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 13 brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of about $168.92.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $3.22 EPS versus the $2.96 estimate, while revenue rose 10.9% year over year to $713.17 million.
• Wintrust also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, which annualizes to $2.20 and implies a 1.4% yield.

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $168.9167.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $161.31 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Wintrust Financial has a 52-week low of $119.61 and a 52-week high of $163.36.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $713.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.23 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 20.11% and a return on equity of 13.15%. Wintrust Financial's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 9,579 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total transaction of $1,425,546.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 179,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,759,324.20. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzet M. Mckinney sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.96, for a total transaction of $74,480.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,014.88. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,099 shares of company stock valued at $1,954,386. 1.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 5.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,992,906 shares of the bank's stock valued at $263,940,000 after buying an additional 102,833 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,442,018 shares of the bank's stock valued at $190,981,000 after buying an additional 8,048 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,273,042 shares of the bank's stock valued at $178,038,000 after buying an additional 16,997 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,071,763 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,944,000 after buying an additional 15,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 832,352 shares of the bank's stock valued at $116,379,000 after buying an additional 151,385 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm's core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.

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