California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 7,518 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,525 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,518 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of Wintrust Financial worth $11,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTFC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 49.9% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,223 shares of the bank’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 34,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after buying an additional 17,041 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 652,206 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,242,000 after acquiring an additional 30,279 shares during the last quarter. Telemus Capital LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 8.0% in the third quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 18.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $98.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.17. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $58.12 and a one year high of $105.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 1.21.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The business 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 last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 18.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTFC. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $112.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $943,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

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.