Drive Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,719 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTFC. UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned 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, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $129.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $131.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.11. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $89.68 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.20.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.46%.

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.