Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Bumped Up to “Hold” by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $184.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.50.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WTFC opened at $144.32 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.84. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $119.61 and a 12-month high of $167.21. 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 (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.15. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 20.72%.The firm had revenue of $738.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 17.67%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total value of $2,199,836.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,092,903.73. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.