Empowered Funds LLC Acquires New Stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,023 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the second quarter worth $1,058,088,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $168,021,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $111,924,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $90,187,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,734,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total value of $2,199,836.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares in the company, valued at $27,092,903.73. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $148.74 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.04. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $119.61 and a 52 week high of $167.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.84.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.15. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 20.72% and a return on equity of 13.37%. The company had revenue of $738.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 17.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $186.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $184.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.77.

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.