First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the two research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FFWM shares. Raymond James cut shares of First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded First Foundation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Stephens cut First Foundation from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of First Foundation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in First Foundation during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter valued at about $123,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Foundation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $128,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised 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 worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. 73.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Foundation Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFWM opened at $6.57 on Wednesday. First Foundation has a one year low of $3.69 and a one year high of $11.47. The company has a market capitalization of $371.27 million, a PE ratio of -1.80 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.86 and a 200-day moving average of $7.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. First Foundation had a negative net margin of 32.44% and a positive return on equity of 1.11%. The business had revenue of $51.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.93 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Foundation will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.09%.

First Foundation Company Profile

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.