Systematic Financial Management LP Purchases New Shares in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,450 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,017,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $297,376,000 after acquiring an additional 146,090 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after acquiring an additional 133,311 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 815,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,372,000 after acquiring an additional 14,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $136.75 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $89.29 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $122.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.68.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 18.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WTFC. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,604.04. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

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.