Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Receives $164.42 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $165.3077.

WTFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $176.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Kathleen M. Boege sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total value of $731,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,349,613.54. This represents a 17.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total transaction of $45,665.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,152.21. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730 over the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $172,204,000 after purchasing an additional 75,155 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 73,013.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,616,000 after buying an additional 42,348 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 417.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,116,000 after buying an additional 408,925 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,413,000 after buying an additional 8,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 196.0% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC stock opened at $157.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $143.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $161.57.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $586.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.30%.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago?area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid?size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.