Wintrust Financial Corporation

Wintrust Financial, based in Rosemont, Illinois, is a holding company for a group of banks, with about $71.1 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2025. Instead of one large bank, it owns sixteen separately chartered community banks, including Lake Forest Bank, Hinsdale Bank and Town Bank, with 209 locations across the Chicago area, southern Wisconsin, northwest Indiana and west Michigan. Customers include individuals, small and mid-sized businesses, local governments and institutions. That structure supports MaxSafe accounts, which spread one customer's deposit across all sixteen banks to extend FDIC (federal deposit insurance) coverage.

Most of its money comes from net interest income: the gap between interest earned on loans and investments and interest paid on deposits and other funding. In 2025, that was about $2.22 billion of $2.73 billion in revenue. Another $502 million came from fees and other noninterest income, including mortgage banking through Wintrust Mortgage and wealth management.

Wintrust reports three segments. Community banking produced about $2.1 billion, or 74.7%, of segment net revenues in 2025. Specialty finance lends nationally and in Canada so businesses can pay property and casualty insurance premiums over time. It also finances life insurance premiums for high-net-worth borrowers and offers leasing and invoice financing. Wealth management provides trust, brokerage and investment advice, mainly in its home region.

• In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $738.6M, up 10.1% from a year earlier, and net income was $233.7M (+19.5%).
• For fiscal 2025, revenue was $2.73B (+11.2% year over year; +10.6% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 30.2% net margin.

• Over FY2021–FY2025: $9.5M in buybacks and $645.2M in dividends.
• At least 9 consecutive annual increases: every fiscal year in the SEC data (FY2016–FY2025) shows an increase; the true streak may be longer.
• Regular dividends per share grew +12.3% a year over 5 years (FY2020–FY2025).
• Dividends took 20.6% of earnings in the latest fiscal year.
• Shares outstanding changed +18.3% from Oct 31, 2021 to Jul 31, 2026.

Rank among 1514 US companies

Market value at each year end

Wintrust Financial’s market value went from $3.76B at the end of 2016 to $10.14B on Oct 28, 2026, about 2.7 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 8%.

Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 2 sales ($3.3M).

Large shareholders (13G filings)

ETFs with the most weight in WTFC

1. Premium finance relies on outside insurance agents. Agents and brokers across the country arrange its insurance premium loans and sometimes hold the collateral. Wintrust warns of more late payments and fraud risk here, and troubled insurers could weaken that collateral.
2. Tied to the Chicago-area economy. Its sixteen banks are concentrated in the Chicago area, southern Wisconsin and west Michigan. A slump in that region could raise loan losses and slow growth more than at a bank spread across the country.
3. Business and commercial property loan losses. Much of its lending goes to businesses, and a substantial portion is secured by real estate, especially commercial property. Weaker property markets or struggling borrowers could raise loan losses.
4. Interest rate swings hit its main income. Net interest income, the gap between what it earns on loans and pays on deposits, is its largest source of income: about $2.22 billion in 2025. Rate changes can squeeze that gap.
5. Deposits could leave or cost more. Funding costs could rise if depositors move money elsewhere or shift from low-cost checking into higher-paying accounts. Any real or perceived doubt about Wintrust's financial strength could speed that up.
6. Growing through acquisitions and new banks. Wintrust built its franchise by starting new banks and acquiring others. Good deals may be hard to find or to integrate, and newly opened operations often bring large costs long before they earn a return.

• Oct 19, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jul 20, 2026 Quarterly results released
• May 29, 2026 Shareholder vote results
• Apr 20, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jan 20, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Dec 16, 2025 Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation

Wintrust has raised its dividend at least 9 years in a row through fiscal 2025, and the streak may be longer. The dividend grew from $1.12 a share in 2020 to $2.00 in 2025, about 12.3% a year. Even so, it took only 20.6% of 2025 earnings, which leaves a cushion if profits dip. The yield (yearly dividend divided by share price) was 1.43% as of October 28, 2026, so starting income is modest. Buybacks have been small: about $9.5 million over fiscal 2021–2025, compared with $645 million in dividends. The share count rose 18.3% from October 2021 to July 2026.

Bank stocks can fall hard in a crisis. Wintrust shares dropped 77.4% in the 2008 financial crisis and did not recover until April 2010. They fell 62.7% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered by January 2021. In 2022 they fell 26.7% and did not regain their earlier high until March 2024. A single stock like Wintrust carries more risk than a diversified fund.