KBC Group NV Purchases 43,065 Shares of Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 2,145.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,072 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 43,065 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.07% of Wintrust Financial worth $6,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $111,924,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $90,187,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,287,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial during the first quarter valued at about $34,272,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 491.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 254,329 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,560,000 after purchasing an additional 211,338 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, Director Suzet M. Mckinney sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.96, for a total value of $74,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,014.88. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 9,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total transaction of $1,425,546.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 179,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,759,324.20. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Wintrust Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Capital One Financial set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.77.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WTFC opened at $157.77 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.43. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $119.61 and a twelve month high of $167.21. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.15. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 20.72% and a return on equity of 13.37%. The company had revenue of $738.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. Wintrust Financial’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 13.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.67%.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.