First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded First Foundation from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush dropped their price target on First Foundation from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

First Foundation Stock Down 9.3 %

FFWM opened at $6.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.48. 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 company has a market cap of $343.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 1.23. First Foundation has a one year low of $3.69 and a one year high of $11.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.03 million. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.11% and a negative net margin of 32.44%. Analysts anticipate that First Foundation will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. First Foundation’s payout ratio is -1.09%.

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 dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total value of $204,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,230,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Foundation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the first quarter worth about $171,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in First Foundation in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in First Foundation in the fourth quarter valued at about $126,000. BHZ Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,186,000 after purchasing an additional 187,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,366,000 after purchasing an additional 90,840 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

About First Foundation

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.