Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 951,600 shares, a growth of 24.1% from the November 30th total of 766,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 416,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $125.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.18. Wintrust Financial has a 1 year low of $89.68 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.11.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.03). Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.46, for a total value of $182,330.22. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Wintrust Financial by 530.3% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,135 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 32,926 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,132,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings 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 worth $8,767,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,169,000 after buying an additional 126,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the second quarter valued at about $1,115,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WTFC. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James increased their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

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.