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

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) announced 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 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th.

Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Wintrust Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 17.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $99.01. 170,496 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 364,802. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.62. 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 has a 12-month low of $58.12 and a 12-month high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.17 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.33.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,309 shares of company stock worth $1,023,730. Company 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.