Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $134.82 and last traded at $134.82, with a volume of 9502 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $112.62 and its 200-day moving average is $104.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,604.04. This represents 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 over the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 825.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 62.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. 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.