Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,111 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WTFC. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $911,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 351 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,026 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 716,105 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,419,000 after buying an additional 63,899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $97.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.12. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $58.12 and a one year high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 13.23%. The business had revenue of $570.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WTFC. Barclays began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.17.

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.