Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,454 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 356 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 2.0% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 52.9% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 20.4% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 601 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 978 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.92.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total transaction of $1,965,321.26. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,965,818.24. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC opened at $129.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.83. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a one year low of $89.10 and a one year high of $142.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $132.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The bank reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $697.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $689.10 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 6th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.38%.

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.