Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 81,104 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $10,114,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 920.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WTFC shares. UBS Group started coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 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 assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $110.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $126.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its 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 last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 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.