Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Acquired by GW&K Investment Management LLC

GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 513,752 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 0.77% of Wintrust Financial worth $64,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTFC. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ:WTFC traded down $5.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $115.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 560,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,086. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $128.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.19.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last three months. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.