Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,696 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $7,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2,131.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 73,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,855,000 after purchasing an additional 70,601 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 32,210 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,432,000 after buying an additional 12,243 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 344,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,020,000 after buying an additional 68,042 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 13.4% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 644,050 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,549,000 after acquiring an additional 75,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $476,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $100.73 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $58.12 and a 52 week high of $105.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 1.21.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Wintrust Financial’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 18.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.33.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.