Wintrust Financial (WTFC) Competitors

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) and M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, community ranking, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Is WTFC or MTB a better dividend stock?

Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. M&T Bank pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Wintrust Financial pays out 19.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. M&T Bank pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Does the media refer more to WTFC or MTB?

In the previous week, Wintrust Financial had 14 more articles in the media than M&T Bank. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Wintrust Financial and 17 mentions for M&T Bank. M&T Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat Wintrust Financial's score of 0.54 indicating that M&T Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wintrust Financial	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
M&T Bank	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate WTFC or MTB?

Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus price target of $133.54, indicating a potential upside of 20.12%. M&T Bank has a consensus price target of $208.24, indicating a potential upside of 22.70%. Given M&T Bank's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe M&T Bank is more favorable than Wintrust Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
M&T Bank	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47

Which has higher valuation and earnings, WTFC or MTB?

M&T Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Wintrust Financial. Wintrust Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than M&T Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wintrust Financial	$2.49B	2.99	$695.04M	$10.11	11.00
M&T Bank	$9.30B	3.00	$2.59B	$14.93	11.37

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in WTFC or MTB?

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.7% of M&T Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Wintrust Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of M&T Bank shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WTFC or MTB more profitable?

M&T Bank has a net margin of 19.24% compared to Wintrust Financial's net margin of 17.52%. Wintrust Financial's return on equity of 12.60% beat M&T Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	17.52%	12.60%	1.13%
M&T Bank	19.24%	10.12%	1.25%

Which has more risk & volatility, WTFC or MTB?

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, M&T Bank has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WTFC or MTB?

Wintrust Financial received 234 more outperform votes than M&T Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.10% of users gave Wintrust Financial an outperform vote while only 46.04% of users gave M&T Bank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Wintrust Financial	Outperform Votes 490 62.10%	Underperform Votes 299 37.90%
M&T Bank	Outperform Votes 256 46.04%	Underperform Votes 300 53.96%

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats M&T Bank on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.