Short Interest in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Grows By 24.1%

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) saw a significant 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 presently 2.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 $4,892,420.93. This trade represents a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTFC. Jane Street Group LLC lifted 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. lifted its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 36.2% during 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 boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 6.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,782 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,627,561 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,169,000 after purchasing an additional 126,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,115,000. 93.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:WTFC traded down $1.29 on Friday, hitting $125.21. 195,545 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 391,820. The company's 50-day moving average price is $127.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.18. Wintrust Financial 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.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $615.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. Wintrust Financial's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is presently 18.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.00.

About Wintrust Financial

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.