Nicholas Investment Partners LP Takes $6.71 Million Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 72,287 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $6,705,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned about 0.12% of Wintrust Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 351 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 30.6% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 725 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $112.33.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of WTFC stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 184,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,457. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $105.29. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $99.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The business had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $577.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $943,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial 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.

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