Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Holdings Decreased by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 85.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,390 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 109,851 shares during the period. Wintrust Financial comprises about 1.8% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

WTFC opened at $122.80 on Wednesday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $91.38 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $128.71 and its 200 day moving average is $120.69.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 19.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTFC. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

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.