BlackRock Inc. Invests $1.06 Billion in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,583,424 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,058,088,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 0.10% of Wintrust Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the first quarter worth $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $20,179,000 after purchasing an additional 12,103 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 400.0% during the second 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 grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1.6% during the second 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. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Brean Capital cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $184.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.77.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $152.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $159.79 and its 200 day moving average is $151.32. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a one year low of $119.61 and a one year high of $167.21. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $738.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.36 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.37% and a net margin of 20.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.77, for a total transaction of $2,199,836.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,092,903.73. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wintrust Financial Profile

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.