Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Acquires New Stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 12.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $1,018,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 29.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 26.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 15,623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 24.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

WTFC stock opened at $131.19 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

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.