Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. or Wintrust Financial Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides a range of banking products and services in the United States. The company offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors. It also provides a range of trust, employee benefit, investment management, insurance, agency, and custodial services, including administration of estates and personal trusts; manages investment accounts for individuals; employee benefit plans and charitable foundations; and insurance planning. The company’s loan portfolio includes real estate loans, such as commercial real estate, construction, residential, agricultural, and other real estate loans; consumer loans, including direct personal loans, credit card loans and lines of credit, and indirect loans; variable and fixed rate commercial loans for small and medium-sized manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and service businesses for working capital needs and business expansions; and agricultural loans. In addition, it offers marketing, credit review, loan servicing, credit cards servicing, mortgage loan sales and servicing, indirect consumer loan and processing, loan collection services, other operational, and specialized staff support services, as well as online and mobile banking services. The company serves individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities in various industries, including agriculture, construction, education, governmental services, healthcare, hospitality, housing, professional services, real estate development, retail, technology, tourism, and wholesale trade. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. was formerly known as First Interstate Bancsystem Of Montana, Inc. and changed its name to First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. in June 1993. The company was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in Billings, Montana.

Wintrust Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides community-oriented, personal, and commercial banking services in the United States. It operates through 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, online and mobile banking, and other services. This segment also engages in the retail origination of residential mortgages; provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations; and asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, it provides loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services, including data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty insurance premium financing. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, tax-deferred like-kind exchange, asset management, and securities brokerage services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

Latest Banks and First Interstate BancSystem, Inc., Wintrust Financial Corporation Stock News

As of July 24, 2026, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. had a $3.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $711.3 million. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.’s stock is up 10.2% in 2026, down 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 25.11% in the past year.

Currently, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 12.4. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.0 billion with a 30.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 3.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.850 per share for the current fiscal year. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. currently has a 4.9% dividend yield.

As of July 24, 2026, Wintrust Financial Corporation had a $10.7 billion market cap, putting it in the 78th percentile of all stocks. Wintrust Financial Corporation’s stock is up 13.5% in 2026, down 3.4% in the previous five trading days and up 17.12% in the past year.

Currently, Wintrust Financial Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 13.3. Wintrust Financial Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.7 billion with a 32.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $13.099 per share for the current fiscal year. Wintrust Financial Corporation currently has a 1.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

Learn more about A+ Investor here!

Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.	FIBK	C
Wintrust Financial Corporation	WTFC	B

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has a Value Score of 60, which is Average. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a Value Score of 67, which is Value.

The Value Stock Winner: Wintrust Financial Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Wintrust Financial Corporation is considered to have better value than First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Wintrust Financial Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.	FIBK	B
Wintrust Financial Corporation	WTFC	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has a Growth Score of 64, which is Strong. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Wintrust Financial Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Wintrust Financial Corporation has a more attractive growth grade than First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Wintrust Financial Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.	FIBK	C
Wintrust Financial Corporation	WTFC	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 84, which is Very Positive. Wintrust Financial Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 66, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Wintrust Financial Corporation. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation Grades

In addition to Growth, Estimate Revisions and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. or Wintrust Financial Corporation Stock?

Overall, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 60, Growth Score of 64 and Estimate Revisions Score of 84.

Wintrust Financial Corporation stock has a Value Score of 67, Growth Score of 89 and Estimate Revisions Score of 66.

Comparing First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and Wintrust Financial Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.