First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) Receives $7.80 Average Price Target from Analysts

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.80.

FFWM has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James lowered First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Foundation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson raised First Foundation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens upped their target price on First Foundation from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush dropped 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Azora Capital LP boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,366,000 after buying an additional 90,840 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in First Foundation by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,859,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,592,000 after purchasing an additional 31,026 shares in the last quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,186,000 after buying an additional 187,182 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in First Foundation in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,819,000. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc acquired a new position in First Foundation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,093,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

First Foundation Trading Down 5.1 %

FFWM stock opened at $6.64 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $4.41 and a 52-week high of $11.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.00. The firm has a market cap of $375.23 million, a P/E ratio of -1.81 and a beta of 1.34.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.23 million. First Foundation had a return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 1.34%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Foundation will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.