Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given New $130.00 Price Target at Barclays

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WTFC. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $112.92.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $97.31 on Friday. Wintrust Financial has a one year low of $58.12 and a one year high of $105.29. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $98.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.73.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 18.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTFC. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 16,809 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 36,861 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,425,000 after acquiring an additional 9,235 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 20,892 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.