Hedge Funds Are Selling Wintrust Financial Corp (WTFC)

Because Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC) has faced a declining sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of hedgies who sold off their entire stakes in the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Millennium Management Subsidiary’s Decade Capital Management dumped the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $6.4 million in stock, and Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $3.2 million worth of shares. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC). We will take a look at Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ:INFN), Clean Harbors Inc (NYSE:CLH), World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT), and Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN). All of these stocks’ market caps match Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 24 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $346 million. That figure was $182 million in Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC)’s case. Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ:INFN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) is the least popular one with only 21 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC) is even less popular than Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN). Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case, more research is warranted.