Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 654,300 shares, a drop of 18.4% from the October 31st total of 801,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 386,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David L. Stoehr sold 1,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was 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 represents a 9.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO David A. Dykstra sold 15,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 owns 197,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,817,808.68. The trade was a 7.27 % 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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Wintrust Financial by 825.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the third quarter worth $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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 worth $56,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Wintrust Financial during the third quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

WTFC stock opened at $138.01 on Monday. Wintrust Financial has a one year low of $84.96 and a one year high of $142.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.51.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last announced its 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 analyst estimates of $623.45 million. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.99%. Wintrust Financial’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price 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. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Wintrust Financial from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Wintrust Financial from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.