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Is First Western Financial (MYFW) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is First Western Financial (MYFW - Free Report) . MYFW is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 12.03, which compares to its industry's average of 12.62. Over the past year, MYFW's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.55 and as low as 6.15, with a median of 11.12.

Another notable valuation metric for MYFW is its P/B ratio of 1.38. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 2.05. Over the past 12 months, MYFW's P/B has been as high as 1.51 and as low as 0.93, with a median of 1.29.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. MYFW has a P/S ratio of 2.34. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.98.

Finally, we should also recognize that MYFW has a P/CF ratio of 9.87. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 15.14. MYFW's P/CF has been as high as 10.40 and as low as 5.54, with a median of 7.45, all within the past year.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that First Western Financial is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MYFW sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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