Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. Sells 145,000 Shares of First Western Financial, Inc. $MYFW

Key Points

• Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in First Western Financial by 40.8%, holding 210,475 shares valued at approximately $4.14 million after selling 145,000 shares in the first quarter.
• In contrast, Wells Fargo and Barclays increased their stakes in First Western Financial by 23.2% and 24.0%, respectively, during the fourth quarter.
• First Western Financial's stock was downgraded from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, with the current average rating being "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $24.33.

Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of First Western Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYFW - Free Report) by 40.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,475 shares of the company's stock after selling 145,000 shares during the quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.17% of First Western Financial worth $4,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in First Western Financial by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 40,070 shares of the company's stock worth $787,000 after acquiring an additional 15,325 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in First Western Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $553,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in First Western Financial by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 18,664 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,047 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First Western Financial by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC now owns 325,177 shares of the company's stock worth $6,390,000 after acquiring an additional 13,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in First Western Financial by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,159 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 4,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Western Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.33.

First Western Financial Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MYFW traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,506. The stock has a market cap of $226.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. First Western Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $17.10 and a one year high of $24.88. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.18.

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $22.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.28 million. First Western Financial had a net margin of 6.50% and a return on equity of 4.55%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Western Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share 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.