Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Sells 9,200 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. cut its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,860 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,200 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Financial comprises approximately 3.5% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned about 0.24% of Wintrust Financial worth $19,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,307,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 in the last 90 days. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

WTFC opened at $129.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $129.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.21. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $91.38 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.33 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

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.