Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 9,000 Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,000 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,911,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $861,932,000 after purchasing an additional 58,162 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth $163,767,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,263,837 shares of the bank's stock valued at $157,613,000 after purchasing an additional 337,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,165,898 shares of the bank's stock worth $145,443,000 after acquiring an additional 10,172 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 29,967 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WTFC. Stephens lowered their target price on Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial set a $143.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $135.77.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $118.70. 251,153 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 429,209. The company has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.10 and a 200 day moving average of $120.44. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $89.10 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 12.00%. The firm had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid 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 dividend yield of 1.68%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.