Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WTFC. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $113.33.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $95.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.11 and a 200 day moving average of $90.57. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $58.12 and a 52 week high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,566,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $145,247,000 after acquiring an additional 693,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $61,898,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 148.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 883,347 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,661,000 after buying an additional 528,449 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 860,623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,823,000 after buying an additional 497,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,651,381 shares of the bank’s stock worth $351,179,000 after buying an additional 480,942 shares during the last quarter. 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.