First Western Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYFW) Short Interest Up 21.1% in March

First Western Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYFW) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 170,103 shares, an increase of 21.1% from the March 15th total of 140,451 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 28,173 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Western Financial news, Director Scott C. Mitchell sold 3,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.96, for a total transaction of $76,144.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,935.08. This represents a 36.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David R. Duncan sold 8,626 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.56, for a total transaction of $220,480.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,793 shares of company stock valued at $522,567. 15.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Western Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in First Western Financial by 1,470.6% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in First Western Financial by 37.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in First Western Financial during the third quarter valued at $49,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in First Western Financial by 26.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in First Western Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. 60.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Western Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Western Financial from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of First Western Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.17.

First Western Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MYFW opened at $26.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $262.30 million, a PE ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.66. First Western Financial has a 1 year low of $18.03 and a 1 year high of $28.00.

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $26.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.50 million. First Western Financial had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 7.08%. Equities analysts anticipate that First Western Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About First Western Financial

First Western Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: MYFW) is a Denver-based bank holding company that, through its principal subsidiary First Western Trust, delivers a suite of personalized financial services. The company’s core activities center on wealth management and trust administration for high-net-worth individuals, families and institutions. In addition, First Western Financial offers a comprehensive range of deposit products—such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit—designed to meet the liquidity and income needs of its clients.

Complementing its deposit offerings, First Western Financial provides fiduciary and investment management services, including estate planning, charitable giving strategies and multi-generational wealth transfer.