KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 13,500 Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,684,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 261.4% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 698,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,126,000 after acquiring an additional 505,293 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $411,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 22,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 2,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 128.9% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of WTFC opened at $112.12 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.01 and its 200 day moving average is $122.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $91.38 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.16.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

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.