Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) to Issue $0.55 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• $0.55 quarterly dividend declared (annualized $2.20) with an indicated yield of about 1.5%; shareholders of record on May 14 will be paid on May 28 (ex-dividend date May 14).
• Dividend appears sustainable—Wintrust has raised its payout for 12 consecutive years and has a low payout ratio (~19.6%, expected ~20.2% on analysts' EPS forecast of $10.87); the bank recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($3.15 vs. $2.93) and reported healthy margins and ROE.

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.55 per share by the bank on Thursday, May 28th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th.

Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Wintrust Financial has a payout ratio of 19.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.2%.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WTFC opened at $146.06 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.86. Wintrust Financial has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $162.96.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $714.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $700.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Kathleen M. Boege sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total value of $731,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,613.54. The trade was a 17.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total transaction of $45,665.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at $283,152.21. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,992,906 shares of the bank's stock worth $263,940,000 after buying an additional 102,833 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,442,018 shares of the bank's stock worth $190,981,000 after buying an additional 8,048 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank's stock worth $172,204,000 after buying an additional 75,155 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,273,042 shares of the bank's stock worth $178,038,000 after buying an additional 16,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,071,763 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,944,000 after purchasing an additional 15,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

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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