Critical Survey: Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBK) vs. First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW)

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Western Financial and Origin Bancorp’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Western Financial	$167.52 million	0.99	$5.22 million	$0.77	22.75
Origin Bancorp	$581.73 million	1.74	$83.80 million	$2.65	12.30

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 Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for First Western Financial and Origin Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Western Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00
Origin Bancorp	0	1	3	0	2.75

First Western Financial presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.45%. Origin Bancorp has a consensus price target of $33.33, indicating a potential upside of 2.25%. Given First Western Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Origin Bancorp.

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	4.28%	3.44%	0.28%
Origin Bancorp	13.66%	8.28%	0.86%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 17.7% 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 hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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, Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Origin Bancorp 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 Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Origin Bank that provides banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, and retail clients in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It offers noninterest and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, money market accounts, and time deposits; and offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, consumer, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, mortgage warehouse, and residential mortgage loans. The company also offers personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance products; and Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfer services; and mobile and online banking, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing facilities, peer-to-peer electronic pay solutions, and personal financial management solutions. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.