Nicholas Investment Partners LP Has $11.79 Million Stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,535 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 3,248 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Financial comprises 1.0% of Nicholas Investment Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned 0.14% of Wintrust Financial worth $11,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake 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 period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 28,384 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $499,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,926 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James set a $143.00 target price on Wintrust Financial and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $121.64. The stock had a trading volume of 66,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,952. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $89.10 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $109.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $643.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.11 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial's dividend payout ratio is 19.78%.

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.