First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush dropped their target price on First Foundation from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

First Foundation Trading Down 9.3 %

First Foundation stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 608,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,264. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.34 and its 200 day moving average is $7.48. First Foundation has a 1-year low of $3.69 and a 1-year high of $11.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.03 million. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.80% and a negative net margin of 31.95%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Foundation will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Foundation

In related news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total value of $204,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,230,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in First Foundation during the first quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in First Foundation during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in First Foundation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. BHZ Capital Management LP raised its stake in First Foundation by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,186,000 after buying an additional 187,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its stake in First Foundation by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,366,000 after buying an additional 90,840 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.