Head to Head Review: First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) versus Triumph Financial (NASDAQ:TFIN)

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) and Triumph Financial (NASDAQ:TFIN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.1% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.1% of Triumph Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of First Foundation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Triumph Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

First Foundation has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Triumph Financial has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for First Foundation and Triumph Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Foundation	0	4	1	0	2.20
Triumph Financial	2	2	0	0	1.50

First Foundation currently has a consensus price target of $7.80, suggesting a potential upside of 21.50%. Triumph Financial has a consensus price target of $70.75, suggesting a potential downside of 16.61%. Given First Foundation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Foundation is more favorable than Triumph Financial.

Profitability

This table compares First Foundation and Triumph Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Foundation	1.34%	1.07%	0.07%
Triumph Financial	6.05%	3.57%	0.53%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Foundation and Triumph Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Foundation	$623.04 million	0.58	-$199.06 million	($3.66)	-1.75
Triumph Financial	$472.59 million	4.19	$41.08 million	$1.31	64.76

Triumph Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Foundation. First Foundation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Triumph Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Triumph Financial beats First Foundation on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also provides various specialized services comprising trust services, online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture services, merchant credit card services, ATM cards, Visa debit cards, and business sweep accounts, as well as insurance brokerage services and equipment financing solutions. In addition, it offers investment management and financial planning services; financial, investment, and economic advisory and related services; and treasury management services, such as bill pay, check/payee/ACH positive pay, wire origination, internal and external transfers, account reconciliation reporting, mobile deposit, lockbox, cash vault services and merchant processing. Further, the company provides support services, including the processing and transmission of financial and economic data for charitable organizations. It operates through a network of branch offices and loan production offices. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Triumph Financial

Triumph Financial, Inc., a financial holding company, provides various payments, factoring, and banking services in the United States. It operates through Banking, Factoring, and Payments segments. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificates of deposit; and loan products, such as commercial real estate, land, commercial construction and land development, residential real estate, commercial agriculture, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans, equipment loans, asset-based loans, business loans for working capital and operational purposes, and liquid credit loans. It also provides electronic banking services, debit cards, insurance brokerage services, mortgage warehouse facilities, and transportation factoring services, as well as payments services offered through TriumphPay platform, a payments network for the over-the-road trucking industry. The company was formerly known as Triumph Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Triumph Financial Inc. in December 2022. Triumph Financial Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.