Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $125.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $89.68 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $128.94 and a 200-day moving average of $113.35. The company has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.18.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total value of $182,330.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,604.04. The trade was a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.