Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $2.02 Million Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 100.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,000 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 920.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James set a $143.00 target price on Wintrust Financial and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $135.77.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $118.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 372,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,979. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $89.10 and a one year high of $142.04. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $114.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.62. The stock has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.82.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. The company had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $643.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.78%.

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.