Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 67,585 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $9,450,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 179,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,179,000 after acquiring an additional 12,103 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,120 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,866,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, Director Suzet M. Mckinney sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.96, for a total value of $74,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,014.88. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total value of $1,425,546.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 179,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,759,324.20. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 13,099 shares of company stock valued at $1,954,386 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC opened at $149.89 on Monday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $114.73 and a 12-month high of $162.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.86.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.26. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 20.11%.The business had revenue of $713.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $188.00 target price (up from $184.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $176.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.92.

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.