Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) EVP Sells $54,475.20 in Stock

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.02. 444,490 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,840. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $89.68 and a one year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted 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 net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $593,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 160.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 67,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after buying an additional 41,722 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the second quarter worth $613,000. Creative Planning raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 12.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 135.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 13,093 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 7,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WTFC. Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.