Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 775,223 shares of the bank's stock after selling 46,275 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.17% of Wintrust Financial worth $96,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,307,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank's stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gitterman Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the bank's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. Insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $98.61. 751,069 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 414,755. 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 $89.10 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.79.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $155.00 to $138.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $132.38.

Wintrust Financial 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.