Analysts Issue Forecasts for First Foundation Inc.’s Q1 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:FFWM)

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) – Analysts at DA Davidson increased their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of First Foundation in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 17th. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $0.02 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.01. The consensus estimate for First Foundation’s current full-year earnings is $0.28 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for First Foundation’s FY2024 earnings at $0.37 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of First Foundation from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

First Foundation Price Performance

Shares of FFWM opened at $6.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $363.10 million, a PE ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $7.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.44. First Foundation has a fifty-two week low of $3.69 and a fifty-two week high of $11.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. First Foundation had a negative net margin of 31.95% and a positive return on equity of 1.80%. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.03 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,267,481 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,411,000 after buying an additional 321,560 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,366,000 after buying an additional 90,840 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,828,844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,383,000 after buying an additional 16,820 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,471,899 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,416,000 after buying an additional 153,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,851,907 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,538,000 after buying an additional 47,717 shares during the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at First Foundation

In other news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total value of $204,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,230,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. First Foundation’s payout ratio is -1.14%.

First Foundation Company Profile

First Foundation Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides banking services, investment advisory, wealth management, and trust services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Wealth Management. It offers a range of deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market accounts, and time certificate of deposits; and loan products consisting of multifamily and single family residential real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, commercial term loans, and line of credits, as well as consumer loans, such as personal installment loans and line of credits, and home equity line of credits.