Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 6,000 Shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter worth about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 539 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $135.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.20. Wintrust Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $89.68 and a 52-week high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.53.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.52%. The company had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.85%.

Wintrust Financial 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.