Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 301,528 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 102.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 596,632 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 301,528 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.97% of Wintrust Financial worth $55,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 351 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 30.6% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 347.8% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 824 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 21.7% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $58.12 and a 1 year high of $105.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.38 and a 200-day moving average of $91.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $604.77 million during 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%. Wintrust Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.61%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following 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. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTFC. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. 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 report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.33.

Wintrust Financial Company 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.