Critical Contrast: Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBNK) vs. First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Western Financial and Origin Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Western Financial	$88.93 million	2.38	$5.22 million	$0.62	35.32
Origin Bancorp	$347.14 million	3.09	$87.71 million	$3.21	10.87

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for First Western Financial and Origin Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

First Western Financial presently has a consensus target price of $22.83, suggesting a potential upside of 4.26%. Given First Western Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Origin Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

First Western Financial has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Western Financial	3.33%	2.44%	0.20%
Origin Bancorp	20.47%	10.45%	0.97%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 17.9% of First Western Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Origin Bancorp beats First Western Financial on 8 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 Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, high net worth individuals, and retail clients. The firm’s products and services include lending, deposits, mortgage banking, and insurance. It also offers other banking services such as Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfers. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Ruston, LA.