Navellier & Associates Inc. Acquires 1,146 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,808 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased 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 acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTFC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $123.80 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $91.38 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.01 and a 200 day moving average of $120.17. The firm has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 19.40%.

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.