Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC significantly reduced its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation by 85.9%, owning only 3,133 shares at the end of the last quarter.
• Wintrust Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.
• Stock shares of Wintrust Financial have dropped by 6.1% recently, with a current price of $120.24 and a market cap of $8.05 billion.

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 85.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,133 shares of the bank's stock after selling 19,121 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 487,770 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,474,000 after buying an additional 34,327 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $409,000. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 196.0% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,800 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,331,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 13,600 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $120.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a one year low of $89.10 and a one year high of $142.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.62.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.7%. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WTFC. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $157.00 price target (up previously from $155.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,265.65. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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