Aberdeen Group plc Has $66.23 Million Stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Aberdeen Group plc cut its position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 473,642 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,154 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.71% of Wintrust Financial worth $66,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 3,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 2.5% in the second quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTFC. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $176.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.62.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $139.60 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.61. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $162.96. The company has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $714.26 million during 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 period last year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 19.30%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider David Eric Lee sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total transaction of $82,260.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,371,250.70. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,725,456.45. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.