Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in Wintrust Financial Corporation dropped by 26.5% in July, totaling 1,360,000 shares as of July 31.
• Analysts have mixed forecasts for the company's stock, with price targets ranging from $132.00 to $162.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Wintrust Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.6%.

Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,360,000 shares, adropof26.5% from the July 15th total of 1,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Approximately2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $157.00 price objective (up from $155.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wintrust Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial from $137.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.77.

Wintrust Financial Stock Performance

WTFC traded up $5.31 on Friday, reaching $134.02. The company had a trading volume of 489,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,002. Wintrust Financial has a 1 year low of $89.10 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.84.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.19. Wintrust Financial had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The firm had revenue of $670.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Wintrust Financial's payout ratio is 18.92%.

Insider Activity at Wintrust Financial

In other news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 14,942 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total transaction of $1,965,321.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 182,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,965,818.24. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward J. Wehmer acquired 3,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $103,265.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,265.65. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 7.4% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,410,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,656,000 after buying an additional 97,587 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 9.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,229,858 shares of the bank's stock valued at $152,478,000 after buying an additional 101,134 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 16.0% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 936,834 shares of the bank's stock valued at $116,149,000 after buying an additional 129,444 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 897,932 shares of the bank's stock valued at $111,981,000 after buying an additional 320,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial by 20.2% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 852,583 shares of the bank's stock valued at $95,881,000 after buying an additional 143,401 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.