Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Short Interest Up 24.1% in December

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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.

Wintrust Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WTFC stock opened at $124.41 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Wintrust Financial has a twelve month low of $89.68 and a twelve month high of $142.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $127.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.24. The stock has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,789,016.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 197,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,817,808.68. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard B. Murphy sold 4,099 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.63, for a total value of $473,967.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,892,420.93. This represents a 8.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,198 shares of company stock valued at $2,445,314. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 62.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Covestor Ltd raised 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 acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.