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 report released on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on FFWM. Wedbush cut their target price on First Foundation from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Raymond James raised First Foundation from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

First Foundation Stock Down 9.3 %

NASDAQ FFWM opened at $6.08 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.48. First Foundation has a one year low of $3.69 and a one year high of $11.47. 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 P/E ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 1.23.

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

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at First Foundation

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Foundation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFWM. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,946 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in First Foundation during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,971 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,710 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,463 shares during the period. 73.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.