First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Lowered to Hold at Stephens

Stephens cut shares of First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on FFWM. DA Davidson raised First Foundation from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of First Foundation from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of First Foundation from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.80.

First Foundation Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ FFWM opened at $6.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.63 million, a P/E ratio of -1.83 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.51 and its 200 day moving average is $6.32. First Foundation has a 52 week low of $4.41 and a 52 week high of $11.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.23 million. First Foundation had a return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 1.34%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Foundation will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFWM. Azora Capital LP increased its position in shares of First Foundation by 3.1% during the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,859,870 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,592,000 after buying an additional 31,026 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Foundation by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,294,000 after acquiring an additional 24,440 shares in the last quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP increased its holdings in First Foundation by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,186,000 after acquiring an additional 187,182 shares during the period. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its stake in First Foundation by 144.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 646,691 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 381,946 shares in the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.