Congress Asset Management Co. Trims Holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Key Points

• Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 3.2% in Q2, now owning 91,117 shares valued at approximately $11.3 million.
• Insider transactions included COO David A. Dykstra selling 14,942 shares and Edward J. Wehmer purchasing 3,919 shares, indicating mixed sentiment among company's executives.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Wintrust Financial, with Jefferies Financial Group setting a target at $165.00 and a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy".

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,117 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,028 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.14% of Wintrust Financial worth $11,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 66,468 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,241,000 after buying an additional 3,024 shares in the last quarter. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 591.9% during the second quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 137,664 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,068,000 after acquiring an additional 117,768 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 21,107 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,617,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,117,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial 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 transaction of $1,965,321.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer bought 3,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,265.65. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $157.00 price objective (up previously from $155.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.64.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $134.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.87. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $132.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.97.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were issued 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 payout ratio is 18.92%.

Wintrust Financial 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.

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