HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 90.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,483 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,325 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $5,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the second quarter worth about $8,320,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $866,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,437,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,320,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 559,762 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,266,000 after buying an additional 102,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.1%

WTFC stock opened at $150.75 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $119.61 and a fifty-two week high of $167.21. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $158.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 17.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Brean Capital lowered Wintrust Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David Dykstra sold 13,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 166,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,092,903.73. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Profile

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC) is a financial services company and bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Founded in 1991, the company operates a network of community banks that serve individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Wintrust’s banking operations provide deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage financing, treasury management, payment services and other traditional banking products. Through specialized subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, the company also offers wealth management, investment services, insurance premium financing, equipment leasing and related financial solutions.

The company primarily serves communities in the greater Chicago metropolitan area and has expanded its banking presence into surrounding Midwestern markets, including parts of Wisconsin and Indiana.