Analyzing First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) and U.S.A Bank (OTCMKTS:USBK)

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) and U.S.A Bank (OTCMKTS:USBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Western Financial and U.S.A Bank”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Western Financial	$89.25 million	2.05	$5.22 million	$0.77	24.70
U.S.A Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

First Western Financial has higher revenue and earnings than U.S.A Bank.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for First Western Financial and U.S.A Bank, 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
U.S.A Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A

First Western Financial currently has a consensus price target of $22.17, suggesting a potential upside of 16.54%. Given First Western Financial’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than U.S.A Bank.

Profitability

This table compares First Western Financial and U.S.A Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Western Financial	3.93%	2.86%	0.24%
U.S.A Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

First Western Financial has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S.A Bank has a beta of -24.99, indicating that its share price is 2,599% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Western Financial beats U.S.A Bank on 9 of the 9 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 U.S.A Bank

As of July 10, 2010, U.S.A Bank was acquired by Customers Bank (Phoenixville, Pennsylvania). U.S.A Bank operates as a community bank in New York. It offers deposit products, Internet banking, ATM cards, consumer loans, and residential and commercial loans. U.S.A Bank was founded in 2005 and is based in Port Chester, New York.