Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,967,886 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 298,766 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $370,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 13,016 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 1,412.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after buying an additional 28,384 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $499,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. StockNews.com lowered Wintrust Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $155.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.38.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $102.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Wintrust Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $89.10 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 17.52% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.40%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 206,294 shares in the company, valued at $27,088,465.14. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total transaction of $310,309.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315 over the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.