Clearbridge Investments LLC Buys 14,409 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,610 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,409 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.42% of Wintrust Financial worth $23,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 351 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $96.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.92. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 13.09%. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $112.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,599,040.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.