Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld Sells 416 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $131.89 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $89.68 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. 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’s payout ratio is presently 17.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 62.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised 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 issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.