Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Key Points

• AllianceBernstein L.P. has reduced its ownership in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 17.8%, selling 186,747 shares, leaving it with 862,069 shares worth approximately $96.9 million.
• Analyst price targets for Wintrust Financial have been increased by multiple firms, with Royal Bank of Canada raising its target from $137.00 to $158.00, indicating a positive outlook for the company's performance.
• Wintrust Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, part of a larger annualized dividend yield of 1.4%, reflecting its strong financial position.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862,069 shares of the bank's stock after selling 186,747 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.29% of Wintrust Financial worth $96,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 7.4% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,410,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,656,000 after buying an additional 97,587 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 2.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,128,724 shares of the bank's stock valued at $126,936,000 after buying an additional 30,018 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 897,932 shares of the bank's stock valued at $111,981,000 after buying an additional 320,954 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 20.2% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 852,583 shares of the bank's stock valued at $95,881,000 after buying an additional 143,401 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 53.3% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 807,390 shares of the bank's stock valued at $90,799,000 after buying an additional 280,568 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTFC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $157.00 price target (up from $155.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.31.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.25. The company had a trading volume of 320,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,576. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $131.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.87.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.19. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The firm had revenue of $670.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares in the company, valued at $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 through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total transaction of $1,965,321.26. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,965,818.24. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently 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.