Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.83% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WTFC. StockNews.com raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “above average” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James set a $143.00 price objective on Wintrust Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.77.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.0%

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $122.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $110.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.10 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.81.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 28,384 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $499,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $263,000. 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.