Wintrust Financial’s (WTFC) “Strong-Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James

Raymond James restated their strong-buy rating on shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $150.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $135.00.

WTFC has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $133.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.44. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 28,384 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,109 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.