First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Upgraded to “Buy” at DA Davidson

DA Davidson upgraded shares of First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $9.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $8.00. DA Davidson also issued estimates for First Foundation’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.00 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $0.13 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on FFWM. StockNews.com raised shares of First Foundation from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $8.00.

First Foundation Stock Performance

Shares of FFWM opened at $5.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $282.83 million, a P/E ratio of -1.37 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.46. First Foundation has a 52 week low of $3.69 and a 52 week high of $11.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.11% and a negative net margin of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $51.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.93 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Foundation will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Foundation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter valued at $3,819,000. rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new stake in First Foundation during the fourth quarter valued at $4,093,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First Foundation in the first quarter valued at about $1,731,000. BHZ Capital Management LP boosted its position in First Foundation by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,186,000 after purchasing an additional 187,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdad Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of First Foundation by 175.0% during the 4th quarter. Verdad Advisers LP now owns 165,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 105,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.