one8zero8 LLC Invests $2.04 Million in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

one8zero8 LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,375 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter worth $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 920.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 684 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $110.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTFC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

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.