Wall Street Zen Downgrades First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) to Sell

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MYFW. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Western Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded First Western Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.33.

First Western Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MYFW opened at $22.06 on Friday. First Western Financial has a twelve month low of $17.10 and a twelve month high of $24.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $214.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.71.

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter. First Western Financial had a net margin of 6.50% and a return on equity of 4.55%. The company had revenue of $23.41 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that First Western Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Western Financial

In other news, CEO Scott C. Wylie sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total value of $117,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 757,164 shares in the company, valued at $17,861,498.76. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 17.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Western Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Western Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of First Western Financial by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 112,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of First Western Financial by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of First Western Financial by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 18,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 2,047 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Western Financial by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 82,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of First Western Financial by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 17,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 2,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

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.