Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 536,808 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 25,887 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.80% of Wintrust Financial worth $71,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,204,000 after purchasing an additional 75,155 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 73,013.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,616,000 after buying an additional 42,348 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 417.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,116,000 after buying an additional 408,925 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 3.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,718,000 after buying an additional 11,644 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,710 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,413,000 after acquiring an additional 8,758 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $145.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.61. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $162.96.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.30%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,130.08. The trade was a 11.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730 over the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.31.

About Wintrust Financial

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.