Critical Contrast: BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) & First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for BEO Bancorp and First Western Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BEO 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 $23.33, indicating a potential upside of 12.29%. Given First Western Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than BEO Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BEO Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Western Financial	4.70%	3.43%	0.29%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares BEO Bancorp and First Western Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BEO Bancorp	$51.01 million	2.08	$14.21 million	N/A	N/A
First Western Financial	$180.33 million	1.11	$8.47 million	$0.87	23.89

BEO Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than First Western Financial.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Volatility & Risk

BEO Bancorp has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Western Financial has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Western Financial beats BEO Bancorp on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BEO Bancorp

BEO Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Eastern Oregon that provides commercial and consumer financing, banking and mortgage lending, and other services in Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington. The company offers checking, money market, time deposits, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, agricultural, real estate, installment, credit card, mortgage, term, home, construction, farm, and refinancing loans; lines of credit; home enhancement loan programs; Internet banking and bill payment services; business sweep and banking services; and automated teller machines and safe deposit facilities, as well as originates and sells mortgage loans into the secondary market. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Heppner, Oregon.

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.