First Foundation’s (FFWM) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their neutral rating on shares of First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James cut First Foundation from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush cut their target price on First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded First Foundation from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stephens cut shares of First Foundation from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of First Foundation from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Foundation currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $8.00.

First Foundation Stock Down 23.8 %

NASDAQ FFWM opened at $5.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.46. First Foundation has a one year low of $3.69 and a one year high of $11.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $282.83 million, a P/E ratio of -1.37 and a beta of 1.34.

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

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFWM. Azora Capital LP increased its stake in First Foundation by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,366,000 after buying an additional 90,840 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Foundation by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,859,870 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,592,000 after acquiring an additional 31,026 shares in the last quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of First Foundation by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,186,000 after acquiring an additional 187,182 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,819,000. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,093,000. 73.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.