Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WTFC. Citigroup upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $133.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $89.68 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.32.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 28,384 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,109 shares of the bank’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 13,016 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.