Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for First Foundation Inc. Lowered by Wedbush (NASDAQ:FFWM)

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) – Research analysts at Wedbush decreased their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of First Foundation in a research report issued on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the bank will earn $0.04 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.09. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Foundation’s current full-year earnings is $0.27 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for First Foundation’s FY2024 earnings at $0.30 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.17 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.30 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com raised First Foundation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

First Foundation Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:FFWM opened at $5.97 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $7.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.50. 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 $337.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.63 and a beta of 1.23. First Foundation has a 52-week low of $3.69 and a 52-week high of $11.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Foundation

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFWM. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of First Foundation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $120,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Foundation in the 4th quarter valued at about $126,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 77.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 8.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 is accessible through this link. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. First Foundation’s payout ratio is presently -1.09%.

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.