Stephens Downgrades FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) to Equal Weight

FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stephens from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.12% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FINW. Zacks Research lowered FinWise Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of FinWise Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded FinWise Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of FinWise Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FinWise Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

FinWise Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

FINW opened at $14.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.44. FinWise Bancorp has a twelve month low of $12.82 and a twelve month high of $22.49.

FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $24.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.11 million. FinWise Bancorp had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 7.10%. As a group, analysts expect that FinWise Bancorp will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

FinWise Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase 685,000,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of FinWise Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FINW. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in FinWise Bancorp by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 771,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,360 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of FinWise Bancorp by 7.2% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 754,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,631,000 after purchasing an additional 50,434 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FinWise Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $7,549,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FinWise Bancorp by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 487,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of FinWise Bancorp by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 439,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,877,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.41% of the company’s stock.

FinWise Bancorp Company Profile

FinWise Bancorp is the bank holding company for FinWise Bank, a digital‐first community bank headquartered in Lindon, Utah. The company specializes in providing commercial lending and deposit products to marketplace lending platforms, fintech companies and small to mid‐sized businesses across the United States. FinWise Bancorp operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, FinWise Bank, which is FDIC‐insured and leverages a technology‐driven model to deliver banking services efficiently.

The company’s primary business activities include participant financing arrangements for marketplace lenders and other fintech platforms, as well as direct commercial loans.