Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 2.4%, now holding approximately 115,812 shares valued at over $13 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Alyeska Investment Group L.P., have recently increased their holdings in Wintrust Financial, with institutional investors currently owning 93.48% of the company's stock.
• Wintrust Financial's stock has received positive analyst ratings, with an average consensus target price of $145.77 and several brokerages setting higher price targets after recent earnings that exceeded expectations.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,812 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Wintrust Financial worth $13,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1,264.7% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 232 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total value 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 approximately $23,965,818.24. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.35 per share, for a total transaction of $103,265.65. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 3,919 shares in the company, valued at $103,265.65. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of WTFC traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $137.29. 573,999 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 372,212. The stock's 50-day moving average is $129.60 and its 200-day moving average is $119.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 price target (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $162.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.77.

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.