Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position 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 reduced its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,812 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.17% of Wintrust Financial worth $13,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,128,724 shares of the bank's stock valued at $126,936,000 after buying an additional 30,018 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 897,932 shares of the bank's stock valued at $111,981,000 after acquiring an additional 320,954 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 852,583 shares of the bank's stock worth $95,881,000 after buying an additional 143,401 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 807,390 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,799,000 after acquiring an additional 280,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 669,718 shares of the bank's stock worth $75,317,000 after acquiring an additional 85,129 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,965,818.24. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.35 per share, for a total transaction of $103,265.65. Following the purchase, the insider owned 3,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $103,265.65. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.77.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.6%

Wintrust Financial stock traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $137.29. 573,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 368,581. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $129.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $670.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 company posted $2.32 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.92%.

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.