GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 242 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,256 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 62.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in 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 related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,604.04. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 in the last ninety days. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $128.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.20. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $89.68 and a 1 year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released 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 firm had revenue of $615.73 million during 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 business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTFC. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.00.

Wintrust Financial Company 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.