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

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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 short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total transaction of $473,967.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,892,420.93. The trade was a 8.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 197,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,198 shares of company stock worth $2,445,314 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wintrust Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 653 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WTFC. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $124.62.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

WTFC traded down $1.74 on Friday, hitting $131.41. 430,963 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 367,891. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $124.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.18. Wintrust Financial has a 52 week low of $89.68 and a 52 week high of $142.04.

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

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 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.