Wintrust Financial Corporation $WTFC Shares Purchased by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 572,816 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 122,221 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.86% of Wintrust Financial worth $75,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Wintrust Financial by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,992,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $263,940,000 after buying an additional 102,833 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $172,204,000 after buying an additional 75,155 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 9.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,229,858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $152,478,000 after acquiring an additional 101,134 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,071,763 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,944,000 after acquiring an additional 15,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,020,660 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,176,000 after acquiring an additional 83,826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Wintrust Financial stock opened at $130.21 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.84. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $89.10 and a 12-month high of $162.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $714.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wintrust Financial Corporation will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WTFC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $176.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $161.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Wintrust Financial from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.31.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,291 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $480,650.55. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen M. Boege sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total transaction of $731,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,613.54. This represents a 17.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 11,662 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,730 in the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.