Wintrust Financial’s (WTFC) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $110.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $113.33.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $95.30 on Tuesday. Wintrust Financial has a fifty-two week low of $58.12 and a fifty-two week high of $105.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.21.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 18.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $943,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at $17,599,040.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $943,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at $333,770.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,063 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 157.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 190,416 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,878,000 after purchasing an additional 116,503 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 1.7% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 8.7% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 15.7% in the first quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 21,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 2,870 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 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.