Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 775,223 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,275 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 1.17% of Wintrust Financial worth $96,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTFC. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 244,229 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,458,000 after acquiring an additional 27,202 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,287 shares of the bank’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $3,335,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,971 shares of the bank’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of WTFC opened at $96.28 on Monday. 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 $89.10 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $120.32 and a 200 day moving average of $122.45.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

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.