Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,301,192 shares of the bank's stock after selling 7,062 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.96% of Wintrust Financial worth $162,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at $35,000. 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. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at $61,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WTFC. Barclays raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 owns 206,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC traded down $5.02 on Friday, reaching $123.80. 299,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 442,389. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $91.38 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.01 and a 200 day moving average of $120.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.19.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is 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.