Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.47 EPS

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $97.31 on Friday. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $58.12 and a 52 week high of $105.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $98.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.73.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTFC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 106.2% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 365 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.