First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

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

First Foundation Stock Down 9.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFWM opened at $6.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. First Foundation has a 52-week low of $3.69 and a 52-week high of $11.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.50. The company has a market capitalization of $343.59 million, a P/E ratio of -1.66 and a beta of 1.23.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its 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 firm 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Foundation will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at First Foundation

In other First Foundation news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of First Foundation 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,230,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Foundation

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth about $171,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in First Foundation during the 4th quarter worth about $126,000. BHZ Capital Management LP boosted its position 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, Azora Capital LP boosted its position in First Foundation by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,366,000 after acquiring an additional 90,840 shares during the period. 73.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.