Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 154 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,291 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last quarter. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $107.76 on Tuesday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $91.38 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The stock has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.16. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $127.38 and a 200-day moving average of $121.78.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

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.