Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47, Briefing.com reports. The firm 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

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

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 305,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,306,000 after buying an additional 100,227 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $569,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 26,211 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC now owns 111,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,343,000 after purchasing an additional 50,293 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Raymond James increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.92.

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.