Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 58,162 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,911,488 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,162 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.39% of Wintrust Financial worth $861,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 920.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $112.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $91.38 and a 12-month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 19.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. 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 research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.