Congress Asset Management Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,338 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.14% of Wintrust Financial worth $11,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at $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 period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $128.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 291,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,731. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $91.38 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $129.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.76.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 of the company's stock, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Wintrust Financial

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.