Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) EVP Sells $54,475.20 in Stock

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $132.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $89.68 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.41.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson boosted 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, 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. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 11,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,970,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth $499,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 19,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after purchasing an additional 6,081 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.