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

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

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.31. 384,752 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 372,738. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.73. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $58.12 and a 52 week 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.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.92.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,156,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $449,112,000 after acquiring an additional 119,790 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,928,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $483,466,000 after buying an additional 109,995 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,795,528 shares of the bank’s stock worth $203,011,000 after buying an additional 112,337 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,913,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,616,000 after acquiring an additional 75,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,338,516 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,131,000 after acquiring an additional 45,932 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.