Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,341 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Access Investment Management LLC increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 17,855 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 4,808 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 43,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,375,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $112.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.96 and a 200 day moving average of $121.39. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on WTFC shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

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.