GW&K Investment Management LLC Acquires 4,899 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 513,752 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.77% of Wintrust Financial worth $64,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $122.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.19. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.72. 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 earnings per share (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 previous year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.