By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the bank on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.
Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Wintrust Financial has a payout ratio of 16.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.7%.
Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.9 %
Shares of WTFC opened at $131.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $131.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.68. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.20.
Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.
View Our Latest Analysis on WTFC
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the business’s 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 owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% 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.
Further Reading
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