David Eric Lee Sells 558 Shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) insider David Eric Lee sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total value of $82,260.36. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,371,250.70. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $157.82 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $89.10 and a 1-year high of $161.57. The company has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.88.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $586.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.54%.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $87,418,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $90,187,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,287,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 417.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,116,000 after purchasing an additional 408,925 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,085,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WTFC. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.31.

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.