First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on FFWM. DA Davidson upgraded First Foundation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens cut First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush dropped their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.80.

First Foundation Stock Performance

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. First Foundation has a 12-month low of $4.41 and a 12-month high of $11.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.32. The stock has a market cap of $395.02 million, a P/E ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 1.32.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.33. First Foundation had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 1.07%. The company had revenue of $61.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.60 million. On average, equities analysts expect that First Foundation will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFWM. Creative Planning increased its holdings in First Foundation by 35.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,463 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in First Foundation during the first quarter worth about $123,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $128,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 8.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in First Foundation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $162,000. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.