Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 3,873 Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 24.5% in Q1, now holding shares valued at $2.21 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Wintrust Financial, with target prices ranging from $138.00 to $157.00.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.6%, payable on August 21st.

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,663 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 43.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 349,983 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,359,000 after buying an additional 105,754 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 7.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 87.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,049 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,817,000 after buying an additional 11,719 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 17.3% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 20,231 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,275,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the first quarter worth about $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $145.00 price target on Wintrust Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Hovde Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.77.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Edward J. Wehmer acquired 3,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the firm'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 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 company insiders.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ WTFC traded up $2.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $125.15. 61,104 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,765. The company has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.