SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 49.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,771 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,532 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,015 shares of the bank’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 26,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $104.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $58.12 and a one year high of $105.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.20.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.55). Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $570.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTFC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.17.

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.