Royce & Associates LP Sells 22,842 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 60,871 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,842 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $7,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTFC. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 920.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $112.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $91.38 and a 52 week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTFC. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

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.