Stephens Raises First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Price Target to $7.00

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) had its price objective lifted by Stephens from $6.00 to $7.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of First Foundation from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James cut shares of First Foundation from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson raised shares of First Foundation from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.80.

First Foundation Stock Performance

Shares of FFWM opened at $6.92 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $391.05 million, a P/E ratio of -1.89 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.02. First Foundation has a 12 month low of $4.41 and a 12 month high of $11.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.23 million. First Foundation had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 1.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that First Foundation will post 0.03 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Foundation

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Azora Capital LP lifted its position in First Foundation by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,033,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,366,000 after acquiring an additional 90,840 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $21,592,000 after buying an additional 31,026 shares during the last quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP increased its stake in First Foundation by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,186,000 after buying an additional 187,182 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in First Foundation in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,819,000. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new stake in First Foundation in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,093,000. Institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

First Foundation Company Profile

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.