Head-To-Head Survey: Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) & QCR (NASDAQ:QCRH)

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) and QCR (NASDAQ:QCRH) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. QCR pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Wintrust Financial pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. QCR pays out 5.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Wintrust Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Wintrust Financial and QCR, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0	2	10	1	2.92
QCR	0	2	4	0	2.67

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus target price of $168.92, suggesting a potential upside of 11.39%. QCR has a consensus target price of $101.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.90%. Given Wintrust Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than QCR.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.0% of QCR shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of QCR shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wintrust Financial and QCR”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wintrust Financial	$4.23 billion	2.42	$823.84 million	$11.93	12.71
QCR	$603.75 million	2.53	$127.19 million	$7.98	11.41

Wintrust Financial has higher revenue and earnings than QCR. QCR is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wintrust Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, QCR has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Wintrust Financial and QCR’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	20.11%	13.15%	1.25%
QCR	21.98%	12.65%	1.45%

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats QCR on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

About QCR

QCR Holdings, Inc., a multi-bank holding company, provides commercial and consumer banking, and trust and asset management services. The company’s deposit products include noninterest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, time, and brokered deposits. It also provides various commercial and retail lending/leasing, and investment services to corporations, partnerships, individuals, and government agencies. The company’s loan portfolio comprises loans to small and mid-sized businesses; business loans, including lines of credit for working capital and operational purposes; term loans for the acquisition of facilities, equipment, and other purposes; commercial and residential real estate loans; and installment and other consumer loans, such as home improvement, home equity, motor vehicle, and signature loans, as well as small personal credit lines. In addition, it engages in leasing of machinery and equipment to commercial and industrial businesses under direct financing lease contracts; and issuance of trust preferred securities. QCR Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Moline, Illinois.