World Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 356 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 16.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,479 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 11.7% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $124.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.63. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $89.68 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at $22,817,808.68. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314 in the last quarter. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial 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.