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 during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 766,900 shares, a growth of 17.2% from the November 15th total of 654,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 398,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.62.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $131.41 on Friday. Wintrust Financial has a one year low of $89.68 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.79 and a 200-day moving average of $109.97. The company has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.18.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 16.52%. Wintrust Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 18.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 42,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Wintrust Financial by 11.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,227 shares of the bank’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Wintrust Financial by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 2.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 5.6% during the second quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 276,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,273,000 after purchasing an additional 14,679 shares during the period. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 15.5% in the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 630,824 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,174,000 after purchasing an additional 84,687 shares in the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.