Critical Review: First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) and Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA)

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

Risk & Volatility

First Western Financial has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chester Bancorp has a beta of -0.11, indicating that its share price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Western Financial and Chester 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	$186.36 million	1.52	$13.19 million	$1.55	18.83
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for First Western Financial and Chester Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Western Financial	0	1	1	1	3.00
Chester Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Western Financial presently has a consensus target price of $27.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.47%. Given First Western Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Chester Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 13.1% of First Western Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 38.8% of Chester Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Western Financial	8.02%	5.74%	0.48%
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

First Western Financial beats Chester Bancorp on 10 of the 11 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 Chester Bancorp

Chester Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Chester National Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in Chester, Illinois. It offers checking accounts, such as regular checking, student checking, golden checking, and club checking accounts; savings accounts, including statement savings, Christmas club, and money market accounts; and certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides loans comprising mortgage, construction, lot, home equity, consumer, and business loans; and reorder check services. It operates two full service offices in Sparta, Illinois; and Perryville, Missouri. Chester Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Chester, Illinois.