StockNews.com Upgrades First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) to Hold

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens cut First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of First Foundation in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James lowered First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson raised First Foundation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.80.

First Foundation Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FFWM traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.99. The stock had a trading volume of 802,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $395.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.32. First Foundation has a twelve month low of $4.41 and a twelve month high of $11.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.33. The business had revenue of $61.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.60 million. First Foundation had a return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 1.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Foundation will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in First Foundation by 8.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,759 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in First Foundation by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in First Foundation by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,336 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 28.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 26,425 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in First Foundation by 1.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 500,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.