Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Price

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $151.00 to $156.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

WTFC has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $131.79 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.10 and a 200-day moving average of $116.81. Wintrust Financial has a one year low of $89.68 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.20.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 17.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 286 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.