Inspire Investing LLC Boosts Stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC significantly increased its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 591.8% during the first quarter, owning a total of 22,254 shares valued at approximately $2.5 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Wintrust Financial, with Piper Sandler raising its price objective to $160.00 and Barclays assigning a target of $162.00.
• Wintrust Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, yielding 1.5%, and reported earnings per share of $2.78, surpassing estimates by $0.19.

Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 591.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,254 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 19,037 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 1,264.7% during the first 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. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the first quarter worth about $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.31.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $136.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.87. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $89.10 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $131.83 and a 200 day moving average of $120.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. The company 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 business posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,265.65. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.