Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,836 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 252 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $559,364,000 after buying an additional 637,072 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,981,000 after purchasing an additional 133,311 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,464,000 after purchasing an additional 92,995 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $135.05 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.53. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 18.85%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 in the last three months. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently 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.