Ethic Inc. Sells 332 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Ethic Inc. decreased its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,614 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 332 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WTFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James set a $143.00 price target on Wintrust Financial and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.54.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $122.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.90.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 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.