Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,946 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 578 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 920.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $122.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.16.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company posted $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.