Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Declares $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the bank on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th.

Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 12.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Wintrust Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 17.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.17 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 17.7%.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $101.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $98.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.84. Wintrust Financial has a 12-month low of $59.85 and a 12-month high of $105.29. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased 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, April 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.33.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $17,599,040.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.