AQR Capital Management LLC Has $8.85 Million Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 19.8%, holding 79,874 shares valued at approximately $8.85 million.
• Wintrust Financial recently posted earnings of $2.78 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.59, with quarterly revenues of $670.78 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.5%, with a payout ratio of 18.92%.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,874 shares of the bank's stock after selling 19,687 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Wintrust Financial worth $8,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $6,086,000. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,410,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,656,000 after buying an additional 97,587 shares in the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 24,042 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,704,000 after buying an additional 5,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 63,733 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,167,000 after buying an additional 7,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total transaction of $1,965,321.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares in the company, valued at $23,965,818.24. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer acquired 3,919 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 3,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,265.65. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.4%

WTFC stock traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.58. 292,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 367,155. The firm's 50-day moving average is $131.91 and its 200-day moving average is $120.78. The company has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $670.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.43 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 18.06%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WTFC shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.31.

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.