MetLife Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,454 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Wintrust Financial worth $4,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,767,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 28,384 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $499,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,926 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $110.93. 81,096 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,357. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.94. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $89.10 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.07 and a 200 day moving average of $121.76.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. The firm had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is 19.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTFC. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reissued an "above average" rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.54.

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.