Earnest Partners LLC Acquires 97,587 Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC) by 7.4%, owning approximately 1.41 million shares valued at $158.66 million after acquiring an additional 97,587 shares.
• Insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of Wintrust Financial at $26.35 per share, while COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares at $131.53, indicating active trading among company insiders.
• Wintrust Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share with a yield of 1.5% and reported earnings per share of $2.78, surpassing analyst expectations of $2.59.

Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,410,773 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 97,587 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 2.11% of Wintrust Financial worth $158,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,264.7% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 232 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the first quarter worth about $47,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer bought 3,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $103,265.65. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. DA Davidson increased 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note 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 given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.77.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC traded down $0.87 on Friday, reaching $137.29. 573,999 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,581. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $129.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.13. The company has a market cap 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $670.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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%.

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.