Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,666 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,550 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Access Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 18,887 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,679,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth about $1,442,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 10.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In related news, insider Richard Murphy sold 7,136 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total value of $1,060,837.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,475,706.62. This trade represents a 19.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO David Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total value of $2,199,836.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,092,903.73. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $152.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.86. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $122.00 and a 52 week high of $167.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.03 and a 200-day moving average of $150.18.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The bank reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $757.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $754.54 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 13.31%. Wintrust Financial’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTFC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $183.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.14.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC) is a financial holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its network of community banking subsidiaries, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgages, treasury management, cash management and other deposit services. Wintrust also provides wealth management, investment services, insurance-related products and specialized finance solutions, including equipment finance and premium finance.

Founded in 1991, Wintrust has built its business through a community banking model that combines local decision-making and relationship-based service with the resources of a larger financial organization.