Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,017,295 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 146,090 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.89% of Wintrust Financial worth $297,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,566,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $145,247,000 after buying an additional 693,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth $61,898,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 54.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,330,263 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,866,000 after purchasing an additional 469,640 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth $31,267,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,452,753 shares of the bank’s stock worth $673,603,000 after purchasing an additional 244,168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $108.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.32. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $71.86 and a one year high of $113.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.10). Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The company had revenue of $591.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Hovde Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wedbush upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.85.

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.