Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Increases Position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 27.7%, acquiring an additional 90,003 shares, reaching a total ownership of approximately 415,498 shares valued at $46.7 million.
• Wintrust Financial's stock price has been positively rated by analysts, with Piper Sandler setting an upgraded target price of $160.00 and a consensus target price of $145.77.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with an annual yield of 1.6%, indicating strong earnings growth after reporting $2.78 earnings per share, above analysts' expectations.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 27.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 415,498 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 90,003 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 0.62% of Wintrust Financial worth $46,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,980 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,622 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 10,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,287 shares of the bank's stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 1.8%

WTFC stock traded down $2.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $122.80. The company had a trading volume of 283,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 469,383. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.85. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $670.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $2.32 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WTFC. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.77.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Edward J. Wehmer bought 3,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.35 per share, for a total transaction of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,265.65. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.