Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Down 4.6% – Here’s Why

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) traded down 4.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $129.61 and last traded at $130.62. 222,431 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 442,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $136.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 17.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 910.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 20,181 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 18,183 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the second quarter valued at about $265,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $446,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,602,000 after purchasing an additional 29,839 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.