Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,256 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $87,132,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,017,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $297,376,000 after buying an additional 146,090 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,981,000 after buying an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,169,000 after acquiring an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $128.26 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.20. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $89.68 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $129.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.92.

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

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.85%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.