Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.85.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WTFC. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Wintrust Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC stock opened at $100.62 on Monday. Wintrust Financial has a one year low of $71.86 and a one year high of $113.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.18.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.10). Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 17.02%. The company had revenue of $591.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Wintrust Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 18.61%.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,452,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,603,000 after acquiring an additional 244,168 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2,131.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 73,913 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,855,000 after purchasing an additional 70,601 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 258,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,986,000 after purchasing an additional 14,409 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 538,489 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,945,000 after purchasing an additional 65,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,624,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.