Strs Ohio Buys 16,983 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,583 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 16,983 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.15% of Wintrust Financial worth $8,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $278,000. Phocas Financial Corp. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 101,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,459,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth $1,595,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 151.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 100,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,285,000 after acquiring an additional 60,321 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTFC. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.83.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $94.96 on Thursday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $58.12 and a 52-week high of $105.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $98.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.54. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $570.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.89 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 18.71%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.47% 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.