Brokerages Set Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Target Price at $112.33

Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.33.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $101.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $62.87 and a 52 week high of $105.29. The company has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.31.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The business 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 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, 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 transaction of $943,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 18.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $409,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after buying an additional 10,863 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 137,791 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,403,000 after buying an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 5.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,679 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.