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

StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $130.81 on Thursday. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $89.68 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $130.95 and a 200-day moving average of $117.72.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $559,364,000 after acquiring an additional 637,072 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after purchasing an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,464,000 after purchasing an additional 92,995 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.