First Western Financial (MYFW) Competitors

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) and First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate IBCP or MYFW?

Independent Bank presently has a consensus target price of $32.17, indicating a potential downside of 13.67%. First Western Financial has a consensus target price of $22.83, indicating a potential upside of 8.99%. Given First Western Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Independent Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independent Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Western Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is IBCP or MYFW more profitable?

Independent Bank has a net margin of 19.93% compared to First Western Financial's net margin of 3.33%. Independent Bank's return on equity of 15.26% beat First Western Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independent Bank	19.93%	15.26%	1.24%
First Western Financial	3.33%	2.44%	0.20%

Does the media prefer IBCP or MYFW?

In the previous week, Independent Bank had 1 more articles in the media than First Western Financial. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for Independent Bank and 0 mentions for First Western Financial. Independent Bank's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat First Western Financial's score of 0.00 indicating that Independent Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Independent Bank	Positive
First Western Financial	Neutral

Which has better earnings & valuation, IBCP or MYFW?

Independent Bank has higher revenue and earnings than First Western Financial. Independent Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Western Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independent Bank	$290.35M	2.68	$59.07M	$2.94	12.67
First Western Financial	$167.52M	1.21	$5.22M	$0.62	33.79

Do institutionals and insiders believe in IBCP or MYFW?

79.4% of Independent Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Independent Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.9% of First Western Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in IBCP or MYFW?

Independent Bank received 157 more outperform votes than First Western Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.74% of users gave Independent Bank an outperform vote while only 49.28% of users gave First Western Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Independent Bank	Outperform Votes 225 54.74%	Underperform Votes 186 45.26%
First Western Financial	Outperform Votes 68 49.28%	Underperform Votes 70 50.72%

Which has more risk and volatility, IBCP or MYFW?

Independent Bank has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Western Financial has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Independent Bank beats First Western Financial on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.