Critical Review: First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) versus University Bancorp (OTCMKTS:UNIB)

University Bancorp (OTCMKTS:UNIB) and First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for University Bancorp and First Western Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
University Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Western Financial	0	1	2	0	2.67

First Western Financial has a consensus target price of $23.83, suggesting a potential upside of 35.65%. Given First Western Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than University Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares University Bancorp and First Western Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
University Bancorp	$105.57 million	0.84	$5.43 million	N/A	N/A
First Western Financial	$88.93 million	1.91	$5.22 million	$0.62	28.34

University Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Western Financial.

Profitability

This table compares University Bancorp and First Western Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
University Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Western Financial	3.33%	2.44%	0.20%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 63.7% of University Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.9% of First Western Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

University Bancorp has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Western Financial has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Western Financial beats University Bancorp on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About University Bancorp

University Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for University Bank that provides various personal, business, and community banking services in the United States. It offers checking, NOW, savings, money market, time deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company's consumer loans include home equity, short term, automobile, personal, and recreational vehicle loans, as well as home equity lines of credits; SBA, commercial real estate, equipment, home improvement, and other instalment loans; and non-profit loans, as well as working capital lines of credit. In addition, the company provides foreign currency exchange; reverse mortgage; online banking and bill pay; online reorder checks; wire transfer; and courier services, as well as credit card and ATM services. Further, it offers life, health, property, and casualty insurance products, as well as investment products, including annuities. University Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

About First Western Financial

First Western Financial, Inc., a financial holding company, provides wealth advisory, private baking, personal trust, investment management, mortgage lending, and institutional asset management services. The company operates through two segments: Wealth Management and Mortgage. The Wealth Management segment provides deposit, loan, life insurance, and trust and investment management advisory products and services. The Mortgage segment engages in soliciting, originating, and selling mortgage loans into the secondary market. It serves entrepreneurs, professionals, high net worth individuals or families, and business and philanthropic organizations. First Western Financial, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.