HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 3,961 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,241 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,423 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after purchasing an additional 3,641 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $344,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,562,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,291 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,406,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

WTFC stock opened at $113.45 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

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.