Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires 2,980 Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 100% in Q1, now owning 5,960 shares valued at approximately $706,000.
• Wintrust Financial reported earnings of $2.78 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and generating a revenue of $670.78 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 1.53% and a dividend payout ratio of 18.92%.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 100.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,960 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,980 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth $163,767,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,263,837 shares of the bank's stock worth $157,613,000 after buying an additional 337,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,165,898 shares of the bank's stock valued at $145,443,000 after purchasing an additional 10,172 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,098,706 shares of the bank's stock valued at $137,020,000 after purchasing an additional 29,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 55.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $162.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.77.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of WTFC traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $125.29. The company had a trading volume of 65,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,634. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.30. The stock has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is presently 18.92%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

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

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.