Vestor Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Vestor Capital LLC decreased its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,051 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 455 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $40,562,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,981,000 after purchasing an additional 133,311 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reissued 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $113.45 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $91.38 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.83.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

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.