Boston Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Boston Partners trimmed its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 527,068 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 81,412 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $66,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 530.3% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after buying an additional 32,926 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,169,000 after buying an additional 126,724 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $499,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $113.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $125.23 and its 200 day moving average is $121.86. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $91.38 and a 52-week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. 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 currently owned by company 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.