Choreo LLC Lowers Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Choreo LLC cut its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,116 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 379,407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,316,000 after buying an additional 65,092 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 112.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,848 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 28,384 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $130.04 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $90.29 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $130.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.40. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 over the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.