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

Key Points

• Wintrust Financial Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from thirteen ratings firms, with an average price target of $145.77.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.78 EPS, exceeding expectations, along with a revenue of $670.78 million.
• Wintrust Financial is planning to distribute a $0.50 quarterly dividend to shareholders, resulting in an annual yield of 1.6%.

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.7692.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. Wall Street Zen raised Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $162.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $123.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 53,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,074. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $126.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.94. The company has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.85. Wintrust Financial has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $670.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.43 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 18.06%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is presently 18.92%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Edward J. Wehmer bought 3,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,265.65. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total value of $1,965,321.26. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,965,818.24. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 56,041 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,948,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 225,183 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,918,000 after purchasing an additional 24,305 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,598 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,422,000 after purchasing an additional 7,935 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,336 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,195 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.