Alberta Investment Management Corp Buys 3,373 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,096 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $5,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the bank’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 41,653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,195,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,253,000 after buying an additional 4,412 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $130.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.19. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $91.38 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.25 and a 200-day moving average of $119.76.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

About Wintrust Financial

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.