Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Short Interest Update

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a growth of 35.1% from the January 15th total of 969,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 449,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WTFC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $152.00 price target on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Wintrust Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTFC traded down $0.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $129.61. The company had a trading volume of 458,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,316. The company's fifty day moving average price is $129.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.46. Wintrust Financial has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Wintrust Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 19.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wintrust Financial

In other Wintrust Financial news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 2,363 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.32, for a total value of $310,309.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,607,752.56. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 167,327 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,867,000 after purchasing an additional 27,892 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,214 shares of the bank's stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 101,944 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,713,000 after purchasing an additional 17,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,060,000. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company's stock.

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.