Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Position Boosted by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,442,018 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,048 shares during the period. Wintrust Financial makes up 0.8% of Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $190,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,204,000 after purchasing an additional 75,155 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 73,013.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,616,000 after buying an additional 42,348 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 417.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,116,000 after buying an additional 408,925 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,718,000 after buying an additional 11,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,413,000 after buying an additional 8,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David Eric Lee sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total value of $82,260.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,371,250.70. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,049 shares in the company, valued at $6,725,456.45. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $176.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.31.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 1.0%

WTFC stock opened at $130.21 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $162.96. The firm has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 12.95%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.30%.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.