Caprock Group LLC Takes $447,000 Position in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,257 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,204,000 after acquiring an additional 75,155 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 73,013.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,616,000 after purchasing an additional 42,348 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 417.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,116,000 after purchasing an additional 408,925 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,710 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,413,000 after purchasing an additional 8,758 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $153.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $162.96. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.84.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.85 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is 19.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.16, for a total transaction of $365,253.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,130.08. This trade represents a 11.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David Eric Lee sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total value of $82,260.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,371,250.70. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens lifted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.31.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.

The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.