First Western Financial (MYFW) Competitors

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) and First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) are both small-cap banking companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Which has better earnings & valuation, AMTB or MYFW?

First Western Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Amerant Bancorp. Amerant Bancorp 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
Amerant Bancorp	$605.50M	1.44	-$15.75M	-$0.20	-104.20
First Western Financial	$180.33M	1.24	$8.47M	$1.19	19.36

Does the media refer more to AMTB or MYFW?

In the previous week, First Western Financial had 5 more articles in the media than Amerant Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Western Financial and 2 mentions for Amerant Bancorp. First Western Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Amerant Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that First Western Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Amerant Bancorp	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Western Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend AMTB or MYFW?

First Western Financial has a consensus target price of $24.33, indicating a potential upside of 5.61%. Given First Western Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Amerant Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amerant Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
First Western Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AMTB or MYFW?

42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.3% of First Western Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.9% of First Western Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AMTB or MYFW more profitable?

First Western Financial has a net margin of 6.50% compared to Amerant Bancorp's net margin of 0.60%. Amerant Bancorp's return on equity of 7.12% beat First Western Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amerant Bancorp	0.60%	7.12%	0.63%
First Western Financial	6.50%	4.55%	0.39%

Which has more risk and volatility, AMTB or MYFW?

Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Western Financial has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Western Financial beats Amerant Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.