Axa S.A. Decreases Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Axa S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,120 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $763,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 81,737 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,870,000 after buying an additional 2,748 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after acquiring an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $344,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,459 shares of the bank’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens lowered their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “above average” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC stock opened at $116.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $108.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.72. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.81. 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 (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $643.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.11 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.78%.

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.