Phocas Financial Corp. Has $14.03 Million Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Phocas Financial Corp. lessened its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 129,241 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,139 shares during the period. Wintrust Financial accounts for about 0.1% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $14,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,452,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,603,000 after purchasing an additional 244,168 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the bank’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.3% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 49,850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $397,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Raymond James upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,604.04. The trade was a 9.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $132.25 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 1.15. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $82.90 and a one year high of $136.08.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The firm had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

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.