Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.47 EPS

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) released 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 analyst estimates of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $97.31 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.73. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $58.12 and a 52 week high of $105.29. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.61%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EJF Capital LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 84,182 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,823,000 after buying an additional 24,509 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,336,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $495,894,000 after acquiring an additional 36,563 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $11,642,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 102,685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,536,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,442,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WTFC. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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, StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.