Reviewing Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) and First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW)

First Western Financial (NASDAQ:MYFW) and Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Volatility & Risk

First Western Financial has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greene County Bancorp has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.3% of First Western Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.4% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 13.1% of First Western Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 59.2% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares First Western Financial and Greene County Bancorp’s 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%
Greene County Bancorp	28.14%	15.60%	1.31%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for First Western Financial and Greene County Bancorp, 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
Greene County Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

First Western Financial currently has a consensus target price of $32.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.81%. Given First Western Financial’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Western Financial is more favorable than Greene County Bancorp.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Western Financial and Greene County Bancorp”s top-line 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	16.12
Greene County Bancorp	$92.58 million	6.16	$41.02 million	$2.41	13.90

Greene County Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Western Financial. Greene County Bancorp 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.

Summary

Greene County Bancorp beats First Western Financial on 8 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 Greene County Bancorp

Greene County Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for The Bank of Greene County that provides various financial services in the United States. The company's deposit products include savings, NOW accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, non-interest bearing checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio consists of residential, construction and land, and multifamily loans; commercial real estate mortgage loans; consumer loans, such as loans on new and used automobiles, personal loans, and home equity loans, as well as other consumer installment loans, including passbook loans, unsecured home improvement loans, recreational vehicle loans, and deposit account overdrafts; and commercial loans. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Catskill, New York. Greene County Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of Greene County Bancorp, MHC.