LSV Asset Management Lowers Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

LSV Asset Management trimmed its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 86.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,301 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,300 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,307,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,971 shares of the bank’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $102.97 on Wednesday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $89.10 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.94.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WTFC shares. 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 research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.38.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. Corporate 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.