Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) Short Interest Down 13.9% in September

Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 859,000 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the August 31st total of 997,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 425,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Wintrust Financial from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $118.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Hovde Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Wintrust Financial in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Wintrust Financial from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wintrust Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.23.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

WTFC opened at $106.55 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.71 and a 200-day moving average of $100.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial has a 1-year low of $71.86 and a 1-year high of $113.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $591.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.33 million. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 17.02%. Wintrust Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Wintrust Financial will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wintrust Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTFC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Wintrust Financial by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,745 shares of the bank’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Wintrust Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $541,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 51,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Wintrust Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 26,973 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.48% of the company’s stock.

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.