Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 920.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 684 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 617 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $85,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 2.9 %

WTFC opened at $110.85 on Monday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.85. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.16.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WTFC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

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.