Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Decreases Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,962 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,536 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.29% of Wintrust Financial worth $20,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,017,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $297,376,000 after purchasing an additional 146,090 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after purchasing an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 815,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,372,000 after buying an additional 14,087 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 781,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,805,000 after buying an additional 47,242 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $137.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.15. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $82.90 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.53.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.45 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WTFC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

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.