Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.55 per share by the bank on Thursday, February 19th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. This is a 10.0% increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Wintrust Financial has a payout ratio of 17.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $152.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.88. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $155.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $586.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $87,418,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at about $90,187,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 408,925 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the second quarter worth about $44,085,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 172.4% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 238,210 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,549,000 after purchasing an additional 150,768 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Wintrust Financial

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.