First Western Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYFW) Short Interest Update

First Western Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYFW) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,900 shares, a decrease of 35.1% from the November 30th total of 66,100 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 26,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other First Western Financial news, Director David R. Duncan sold 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $163,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $166,702.80. This trade represents a 49.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Western Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in First Western Financial by 347.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in First Western Financial in the second quarter valued at $194,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in First Western Financial during the second quarter worth about $210,000. Sippican Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in First Western Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $272,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in First Western Financial by 284.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 10,113 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MYFW shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on First Western Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Western Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Western Financial Price Performance

Shares of MYFW stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.03. 13,163 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,095. The firm has a market cap of $183.91 million, a PE ratio of 30.69 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.12. First Western Financial has a 1-year low of $12.84 and a 1-year high of $22.32.

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $45.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.10 million. First Western Financial had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 2.44%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Western Financial will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.