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

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.80.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on First Foundation from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut First Foundation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson upgraded First Foundation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

First Foundation Trading Up 4.1 %

FFWM opened at $6.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $445.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.44. First Foundation has a one year low of $4.41 and a one year high of $11.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.05. First Foundation had a return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 1.34%. The company had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Foundation will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFWM. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter valued at $123,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in First Foundation in the 4th quarter worth $126,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in First Foundation in the 1st quarter worth $128,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in First Foundation by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,759 shares of the bank’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

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.