Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,421 shares of the bank's stock after selling 48,510 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.26% of Wintrust Financial worth $21,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank's stock valued at $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,169,000 after acquiring an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,981,000 after acquiring an additional 133,311 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 8.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,726 shares of the bank's stock worth $125,464,000 after acquiring an additional 92,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank's stock worth $87,132,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Wintrust Financial stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.99. 379,034 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $91.38 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $124.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.12.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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. Equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Wintrust Financial Company 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.