Gitterman Wealth Management LLC Buys 113 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Gitterman Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,373 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $559,364,000 after acquiring an additional 637,072 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,308,254 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,981,000 after buying an additional 133,311 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,464,000 after buying an additional 92,995 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WTFC shares. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upgraded Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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 Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $110.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.13 and its 200 day moving average is $121.75. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $91.38 and a 12-month high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at $6,409,278.20. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.