Nicholas Investment Partners LP Acquires 3,248 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,535 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,248 shares during the period. Wintrust Financial accounts for about 1.0% of Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $11,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,911,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $861,932,000 after buying an additional 58,162 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $163,767,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,263,837 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,613,000 after purchasing an additional 337,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,165,898 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $145,443,000 after buying an additional 10,172 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,098,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $137,020,000 after acquiring an additional 29,967 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James set a $143.00 target price on Wintrust Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $122.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $109.13 and its 200 day moving average is $121.89.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $643.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.11 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.78%.

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.