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

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $133.54.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “above average” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James set a $143.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $113.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.76. Wintrust Financial has a one year low of $89.10 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $643.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 28,384 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 2,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.