Head to Head Contrast: Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) vs. Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA)

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) and Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Wintrust Financial and Republic Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wintrust Financial	$2.38 billion	3.66	$622.63 million	$9.55	13.73
Republic Bancorp	$371.07 million	3.95	$90.37 million	$5.26	14.31

Wintrust Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Republic Bancorp. Wintrust Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Republic Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Wintrust Financial pays out 18.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Republic Bancorp pays out 30.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years and Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years. Republic Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 56.6% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Wintrust Financial and Republic Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	16.52%	11.99%	1.07%
Republic Bancorp	20.65%	10.79%	1.52%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Wintrust Financial and Republic Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0	2	10	1	2.92
Republic Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus target price of $123.00, suggesting a potential downside of 6.19%. Republic Bancorp has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.26%. Given Republic Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Republic Bancorp is more favorable than Wintrust Financial.

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats Republic Bancorp on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.