HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 395 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,280 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 11.7% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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 on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total value of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,604.04. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314 in the last three months. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WTFC shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.62.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC opened at $131.64 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.31. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $89.68 and a 52-week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.52%. The business had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. Wintrust Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.85%.

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.