Commerce Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Commerce Bank trimmed its position in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 15.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,667 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 7.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 203,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,063,000 after purchasing an additional 14,699 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 2.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 207,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,495,000 after purchasing an additional 5,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 25.2% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 40,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,032,000 after purchasing an additional 8,238 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WTFC opened at $138.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.79. Wintrust Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $82.90 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total transaction of $182,330.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,604.04. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Company Profile

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.