Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Announces $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the bank on Thursday, August 21st. 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 has a dividend payout ratio of 17.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $132.11. 475,858 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 469,024. The company has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.42. 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 has a one year low of $89.10 and a one year high of $142.04.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 49.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,019 shares of the bank's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 179,430 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,179,000 after purchasing an additional 12,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WTFC. Stephens dropped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.77.

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.