KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 13,500 Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,684,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Activity

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

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $112.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $123.01 and its 200 day moving average is $122.15. 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.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.40%.

Wintrust Financial Company 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.