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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Sunday, March 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $112.92.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

WTFC stock opened at $97.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $58.12 and a twelve month high of $105.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.18 and its 200 day simple moving average 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.29%. Wintrust Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.61%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $333,770.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the firm’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 value of $57,553.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,156,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $449,112,000 after buying an additional 119,790 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,928,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $483,466,000 after purchasing an additional 109,995 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 11.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,651,381 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,179,000 after purchasing an additional 480,942 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,866,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $265,829,000 after acquiring an additional 80,526 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,795,528 shares of the bank’s stock worth $203,011,000 after acquiring an additional 112,337 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.