Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $362.31 Million Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,735,649 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 56,833 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $362,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,300,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,204,000 after purchasing an additional 75,155 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 73,013.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 417.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 506,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,116,000 after buying an additional 408,925 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 3.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 405,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,718,000 after buying an additional 11,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 4.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,710 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,413,000 after buying an additional 8,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $143.11 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $89.10 and a 52-week high of $162.96. The company has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.65.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 19.48%.The firm had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Wintrust Financial’s payout ratio is currently 19.30%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.43, for a total value of $45,665.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,152.21. This trade represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $480,650.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,725,456.45. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WTFC shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $176.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $167.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.31.

Wintrust Financial 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.