Navellier & Associates Inc. Purchases 1,146 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,808 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 530.3% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 32,926 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after acquiring an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $499,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $123.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $91.38 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.17.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

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.