Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 46,275 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 775,223 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,275 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $96,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTFC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $94,906,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 261.4% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 698,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,126,000 after purchasing an additional 505,293 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,562,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 865,409 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,925,000 after purchasing an additional 253,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after buying an additional 133,311 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last quarter. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $96.28 on Monday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $89.10 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $120.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.45.

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 net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Wintrust Financial 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.