David L. Stoehr Sells 2,363 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Stock

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

WTFC opened at $131.89 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $89.68 and a one 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 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 1.20.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 94,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,765,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 202.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,761 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 11,955 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $14,970,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTFC. Barclays upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.