Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 800 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth $234,000. American Trust purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Chicago Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 538,489 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,945,000 after acquiring an additional 65,179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $93.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.55. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.19. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $67.61 and a 52 week high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTFC. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.33.

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.