Wintrust Financial Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the bank on Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th.

Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 13.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Wintrust Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 18.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC traded up $8.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.13. 1,043,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,520. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $117.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.94. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.10 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $155.00 to $138.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $132.38.

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.