Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Invests $777,000 in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,865 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $447,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 196,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,054,000 after acquiring an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 46.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,157 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its position in Wintrust Financial by 25.1% in the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 4,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth about $640,000. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTFC. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $176.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.31.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $153.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 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.

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

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,725,456.45. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total transaction of $45,665.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at $283,152.21. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 11,662 shares of company stock worth $1,705,730 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.