355,585 Shares in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Bought by Azora Capital LP

Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 355,585 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $44,085,000. Wintrust Financial comprises 2.0% of Azora Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Azora Capital LP owned 0.53% of Wintrust Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,410,773 shares of the bank’s stock worth $158,656,000 after purchasing an additional 97,587 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,229,858 shares of the bank’s stock worth $152,478,000 after buying an additional 101,134 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 16.0% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 936,834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $116,149,000 after buying an additional 129,444 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 20.2% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 852,583 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,881,000 after acquiring an additional 143,401 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 12.2% in the second quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 751,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,170,000 after acquiring an additional 81,763 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $136.16 on Wednesday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $89.10 and a twelve month high of $141.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.40.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The bank reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 18.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WTFC. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $161.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $166.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.92.

About Wintrust Financial

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.