Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $133.69.

Several research analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group started 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ WTFC traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $129.61. The stock had a trading volume of 458,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,316. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50-day moving average price is $129.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.33 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 32,926 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,132,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,169,000 after acquiring an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,063,000 after acquiring an additional 14,699 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.