Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $141.98 Million Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 11.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,308,254 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 133,311 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.97% of Wintrust Financial worth $141,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 207,944 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,495,000 after buying an additional 5,563 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 17,700 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 866 shares of the bank's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,782 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at about $11,850,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total value of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,604.04. This represents a 9.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock traded up $1.45 on Friday, hitting $124.17. 1,503,216 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 394,585. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $126.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.18. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $89.68 and a one year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

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.