Panagora Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,847 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,164 shares of the bank’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $345,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 109.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $99.19 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.90. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $62.87 and a 52-week high of $105.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $604.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.80 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 17.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.14 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. 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 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Edward J. Wehmer sold 9,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 177,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,599,040.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WTFC. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Wintrust Financial from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.33.

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.