Wall Street Zen Downgrades FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded FinWise Bancorp to “strong sell” from “sell,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an $18.00 price target.
• FinWise shares opened at $13.88, near their 52-week low of $12.82 and below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company’s latest quarterly earnings of $0.15 per share missed expectations of $0.24, despite revenue exceeding estimates.
• FinWise approved a repurchase program covering up to 5% of its outstanding shares, and institutional investors collectively own 35.41% of the company.

FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on FINW. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FinWise Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of FinWise Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stephens cut FinWise Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of FinWise Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.00.

FinWise Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FINW opened at $13.88 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.29. FinWise Bancorp has a 1 year low of $12.82 and a 1 year high of $22.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.65 million, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.70.

FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ:FINW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). FinWise Bancorp had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 7.04%. The business had revenue of $54.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.11 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FinWise Bancorp will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

FinWise Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase 685,000,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FinWise Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in FinWise Bancorp by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 771,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,360 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in FinWise Bancorp by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 754,543 shares of the company's stock worth $14,631,000 after acquiring an additional 50,434 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FinWise Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,549,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of FinWise Bancorp by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 487,323 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings 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 valued at $7,877,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.41% of the company's stock.

About FinWise Bancorp

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.

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