Kennedy Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 236,060 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 16,052 shares during the period. Wintrust Financial comprises 0.7% of Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $33,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,019 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 179,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,179,000 after purchasing an additional 12,103 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,120 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,866,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTFC. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (up from $184.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.92.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $159.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $116.57 and a 12-month high of $162.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.18.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.26. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 20.11% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $713.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Wintrust Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 3,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.45, for a total value of $454,359.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,987,895.85. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 9,579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total transaction of $1,425,546.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 179,810 shares in the company, valued at $26,759,324.20. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 13,099 shares of company stock valued at $1,954,386 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.