Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Announces Earnings Results

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of WTFC traded up $1.87 on Tuesday, reaching $136.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 461,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,416. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $130.98 and a 200-day moving average of $115.91.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,604.04. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.00.

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.