Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. reduced its holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 33.7%, owning 275,278 shares after selling 139,713 shares in the first quarter.
• Wintrust Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.00 with a yield of 1.5%.
• Research analysts have raised their target prices for Wintrust Financial, with Royal Bank of Canada increasing it from $137.00 to $158.00 and several others also rating the stock as "buy."

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. decreased its position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 33.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 275,278 shares of the bank's stock after selling 139,713 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.41% of Wintrust Financial worth $30,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105,754 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,426 shares of the bank's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $297,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,663 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,211,000 after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,049 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,817,000 after buying an additional 11,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of WTFC stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $139.53. 438,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 353,063. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $131.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.33.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

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