Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

WTFC has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued 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 $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $128.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.92. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $89.68 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.5% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,286 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,115,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,555,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 38.9% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in 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.