Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 58,162 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,911,488 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 58,162 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.39% of Wintrust Financial worth $861,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock traded down $14.66 during midday 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 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 cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $91.38 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $121.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.32.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WTFC. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock 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 target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.69.

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.