Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Shares Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 55.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 897,932 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 320,954 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $111,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 13,016 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 28,384 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $499,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,926 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $116.29 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.81.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.17. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. The business had revenue of $643.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 19.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on WTFC shares. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $150.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Profile

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.