Norges Bank Invests $94.91 Million in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 761,016 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $94,906,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.14% of Wintrust Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 32,926 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,767,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,169,000 after buying an additional 126,724 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 708.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,327 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,880,000 after buying an additional 15,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 13,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the company'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 value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. Insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC traded down $14.66 during trading on Thursday, reaching $99.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 740,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,672. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.32. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $91.38 and a 1 year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

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

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.