Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Purchased by Earnest Partners LLC

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 boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,410,773 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 97,587 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 2.11% of Wintrust Financial worth $158,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1,264.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 232 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTFC. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $157.00 price objective (up from $155.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $137.29. The company had a trading volume of 573,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,212. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.87. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. 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 last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total value of $1,965,321.26. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,965,818.24. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 price of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the purchase, 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 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.