North Star Investment Management Corp. Sells 1,831 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

North Star Investment Management Corp. decreased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,745 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,831 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $3,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,452,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,603,000 after buying an additional 244,168 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,638,085 shares of the bank’s stock worth $171,000,000 after purchasing an additional 72,082 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $1,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 7.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,063,000 after purchasing an additional 14,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 207,944 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,495,000 after purchasing an additional 5,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Wintrust Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $115.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $109.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.18. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $76.67 and a 1 year high of $118.69. The company has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.15.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.52%. Wintrust Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

Wintrust Financial 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.