World Investment Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,287 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 920.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last ninety days. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WTFC. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $95.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.35. The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.94. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $89.10 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

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.