SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 26,697 Shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,383 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 26,697 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in First Foundation were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,819,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in shares of First Foundation by 144.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 646,691 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after buying an additional 381,946 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,870,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,731,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $838,000. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFWM has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens downgraded First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded First Foundation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush cut their price target on First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James downgraded First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of First Foundation in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Foundation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.80.

First Foundation Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFWM opened at $7.67 on Friday. First Foundation Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.41 and a twelve month high of $11.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.30. The company has a market capitalization of $433.45 million, a PE ratio of -2.10 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. First Foundation had a return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 1.34%. The firm had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Foundation Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

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.