First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $9.50 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush decreased their target price on First Foundation from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday.

First Foundation Stock Down 9.3 %

NASDAQ FFWM traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 608,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $343.58 million, a PE ratio of -1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.48. 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 issued 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. The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.03 million. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.80% and a negative net margin of 31.95%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Foundation will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Foundation news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,230,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in First Foundation in the first quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in First Foundation in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in First Foundation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. BHZ Capital Management LP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 187,182 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 90,840 shares in the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.