Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) versus First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) Head to Head Analysis

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) and Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for First Western Financial and Cullen/Frost Bankers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Western Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40
Cullen/Frost Bankers	1	7	5	0	2.31

First Western Financial presently has a consensus price target of $32.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.74%. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus price target of $170.18, suggesting a potential upside of 10.49%. Given Cullen/Frost Bankers’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cullen/Frost Bankers is more favorable than First Western Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Western Financial and Cullen/Frost Bankers”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Western Financial	$186.36 million	1.57	$13.19 million	$1.86	16.13
Cullen/Frost Bankers	$2.92 billion	3.28	$648.56 million	$10.58	14.56

Cullen/Frost Bankers has higher revenue and earnings than First Western Financial. Cullen/Frost Bankers 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.

Risk and Volatility

First Western Financial has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Western Financial and Cullen/Frost Bankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Western Financial	9.50%	6.82%	0.57%
Cullen/Frost Bankers	23.34%	15.55%	1.29%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.9% of Cullen/Frost Bankers shares are held by institutional investors. 13.1% of First Western Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Cullen/Frost Bankers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Cullen/Frost Bankers beats First Western Financial on 10 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 Cullen/Frost Bankers

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Frost Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services in Texas. The company offers commercial banking services to corporations, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, interim construction related to industrial and commercial properties, equipment, inventories and accounts receivables, and acquisitions; and treasury management services, as well as originates commercial leasing services. It also provides consumer banking services, such as checking accounts, savings programs, automated-teller machines (ATMs), overdraft facilities, installment and real estate loans, first mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, drive-in and night deposit services, safe deposit facilities, and brokerage services. In addition, the company offers international banking services comprising deposits, loans, letters of credit, foreign collections, funds transmitting, and foreign exchange services; correspondent banking activities, including check clearing, transfer of funds, fixed income security services, and securities custody and clearance services. Further, it offers trust, investment, agency, and custodial services for individual and corporate clients; capital market services that include sales and trading, new issue underwriting, money market trading, advisory, and securities safekeeping and clearance; and support for international business activities, including foreign exchange, letters of credit, export-import financing, and other related activities. Additionally, the company offers insurance and securities brokerage services; holding of securities for investment purposes; and investment management services for mutual funds, institutions, and individuals. It serves energy, manufacturing, services, construction, retail, telecommunications, healthcare, military, and transportation industries. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.