Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.50 Per Share

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Investors 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 yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Wintrust Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 18.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Wintrust Financial to earn $10.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC stock opened at $127.25 on Tuesday. Wintrust Financial has a 1 year low of $89.68 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.91. The firm has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.19.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

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.