Financial Comparison: First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) vs. Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK)

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Western Financial	$92.00 million	2.24	$8.47 million	$0.87	24.55
Equity Bancshares	$335.67 million	2.02	$62.62 million	$3.98	11.12

Equity Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than First Western Financial. Equity Bancshares 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.

Profitability

This table compares First Western Financial and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Western Financial	4.70%	3.43%	0.29%
Equity Bancshares	18.66%	14.64%	1.31%

Risk & Volatility

First Western Financial has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 17.9% of First Western Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for First Western Financial and Equity Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Western Financial	0	1	2	0	2.67
Equity Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60

First Western Financial currently has a consensus price target of $23.33, suggesting a potential upside of 9.24%. Equity Bancshares has a consensus price target of $48.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.46%. Given First Western Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats First Western Financial on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.