Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Releases Earnings Results

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $97.31 on Friday. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $58.12 and a 1-year high of $105.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.73.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.61%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $54,595,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 148.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 883,347 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,661,000 after purchasing an additional 528,449 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 136.2% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 664,210 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,237,000 after purchasing an additional 382,944 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 160.5% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 542,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,406,000 after purchasing an additional 334,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 555.2% in the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 306,450 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,356,000 after purchasing an additional 259,679 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.92.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.