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

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

FFWM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stephens lifted their price target on First Foundation from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson raised First Foundation from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James downgraded First Foundation from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.80.

First Foundation Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:FFWM opened at $6.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.89 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. First Foundation has a twelve month low of $4.41 and a twelve month high of $11.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.02.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.23 million. First Foundation had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 1.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Foundation will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Foundation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in First Foundation by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,812,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,097,000 after acquiring an additional 20,799 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 116.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 21,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 11,328 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Foundation by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,971 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 6,045 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its stake in shares of First Foundation by 122.3% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 122,851 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 67,583 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $440,000. 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.