3,998 Shares in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Acquired by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,998 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the transaction, 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 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. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

WTFC traded down $0.30 on Friday, hitting $129.61. 458,770 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,316. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.29. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.69.

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.