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 report issued on Tuesday morning.

WTFC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson cut their price target on Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James set a $143.00 price objective on Wintrust Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “above average” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC opened at $112.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.69. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 19.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 929 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.6% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,646 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,963 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.