Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 94.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,682 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,521 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Wintrust Financial worth $5,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,156,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $449,112,000 after buying an additional 119,790 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,928,458 shares of the bank’s stock worth $483,466,000 after acquiring an additional 109,995 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,651,381 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,179,000 after purchasing an additional 480,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,795,528 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $203,011,000 after purchasing an additional 112,337 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,913,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,616,000 after purchasing an additional 75,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $97.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.21. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $58.12 and a 1 year high of $105.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.73.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WTFC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.92.

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.