Insider Selling: First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) Insider Sells 100,000 Shares of Stock

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM – Get Rating) insider John Hakopian sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.96, for a total value of $796,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 706,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,462.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

John Hakopian also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 15th, John Hakopian sold 29,857 shares of First Foundation stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.27, for a total value of $276,774.39.

First Foundation Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of FFWM opened at $8.69 on Friday. First Foundation Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.53 and a 52 week high of $26.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.65 and a 200-day moving average of $15.78.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The bank reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.04. First Foundation had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 24.44%. The company had revenue of $81.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.93 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Foundation Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 6th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 3rd. First Foundation’s payout ratio is 22.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FFWM shares. StockNews.com started coverage on First Foundation in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Raymond James cut their target price on First Foundation from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut First Foundation from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $17.50 to $16.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.75.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Foundation in the second quarter valued at $205,000. John W. Rosenthal Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Foundation in the third quarter valued at $1,814,000. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Foundation by 73.1% in the second quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 270,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 114,176 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Foundation in the second quarter valued at $1,030,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. 69.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Foundation

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First Foundation, Inc is a bank holding, which engages in the provision of a comprehensive platform of financial services to individuals, businesses, and organizations. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Other. The company was founded by John Avak Hakopian and Ulrich Emanuel Keller, Jr.