Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,800 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $2,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Wintrust Financial by 43.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 349,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,359,000 after purchasing an additional 105,754 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $297,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 87.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 11,719 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective (up previously from $155.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $141.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total value of $1,965,321.26. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,965,818.24. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer purchased 3,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.35 per share, for a total transaction of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,265.65. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $125.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $132.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 0.83.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The business had revenue of $670.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.92%.

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.