Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,815 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,353 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 530.3% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 32,926 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $112.86 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $91.38 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $127.96 and a 200-day moving average of $121.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

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.