Skylands Capital LLC Sells 10,200 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Skylands Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 52.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,200 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,200 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 76,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,114,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 134.6% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,302 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $275,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 596,632 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,338,000 after purchasing an additional 301,528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $112.33.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total transaction of $57,553.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.88, for a total value of $57,553.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,770.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at $17,599,040.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,309 shares of company stock worth $1,023,730. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $97.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $58.12 and a 1 year high of $105.29.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.61%.

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.