First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on FFWM. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson raised shares of First Foundation from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of First Foundation from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Foundation currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $7.80.

First Foundation Price Performance

Shares of First Foundation stock opened at $7.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. First Foundation has a fifty-two week low of $4.41 and a fifty-two week high of $11.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.07. The company has a market cap of $400.09 million, a PE ratio of 39.17 and a beta of 1.34.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. First Foundation had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 1.07%. The firm had revenue of $51.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.93 million. Analysts expect that First Foundation will post 0.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Foundation

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of First Foundation by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in First Foundation by 22.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in First Foundation by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 23,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 10,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in First Foundation by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 21,070 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 11,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

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.