Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases Shares of 5,865 Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,865 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the second quarter worth $41,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,499 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.16, for a total transaction of $365,253.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,130.08. The trade was a 11.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total transaction of $45,665.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at $283,152.21. The trade was a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $153.49 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $162.96. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.46 and its 200-day moving average is $137.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.31.

Wintrust Financial Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.