Short Interest in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Grows By 17.2%

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 trading volume of 398,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WTFC shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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 upped their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wintrust Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wintrust Financial news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.48, for a total value of $1,789,016.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314 in the last ninety days. 1.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 11.7% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 866 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ WTFC opened at $131.41 on Monday. 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 has a 52 week low of $89.68 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $124.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.07. The company has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.18.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.47 EPS 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 business had revenue of $615.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

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.