MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,454 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $4,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 4,145.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 13,016 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 28,384 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $499,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of 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. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wintrust Financial Stock Up 3.4 %

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $111.38 on Friday. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $89.10 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.94.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $643.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.11 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Wintrust Financial from $152.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $145.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 3,186 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $418,321.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,409,278.20. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total value of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,178 shares of company stock worth $1,336,315. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.