Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WTFC. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $184.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Brean Capital cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Capital One Financial set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.50.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $144.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $119.61 and a 52 week high of $167.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.21. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.15. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 20.72%.The company had revenue of $738.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. Wintrust Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total transaction of $2,199,836.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,092,903.73. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 976 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC) is a financial services company and bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Founded in 1991, the company operates a network of community banks that serve individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Wintrust’s banking operations provide deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage financing, treasury management, payment services and other traditional banking products. Through specialized subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, the company also offers wealth management, investment services, insurance premium financing, equipment leasing and related financial solutions.

The company primarily serves communities in the greater Chicago metropolitan area and has expanded its banking presence into surrounding Midwestern markets, including parts of Wisconsin and Indiana.