Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock Price

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $151.00 to $155.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

WTFC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $133.03 on Thursday. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.44.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 17.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 approximately $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.