First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Rating Reiterated by Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $7.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of First Foundation from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

First Foundation Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ FFWM opened at $5.92 on Wednesday. First Foundation has a 12 month low of $3.69 and a 12 month high of $11.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $334.54 million, a PE ratio of -1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $6.51 and its 200 day moving average is $7.57.

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 negative net margin of 32.44% and a positive return on equity of 1.11%. The firm had revenue of $51.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.93 million. Research analysts predict that First Foundation will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio is -1.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Foundation news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total transaction of $204,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,230,622 shares in the company, valued at $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFWM. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of First Foundation during the third quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of First Foundation during the first quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Foundation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Foundation by 77.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 9,463 shares during the period. 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.