First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of First Foundation from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.75.

First Foundation Stock Performance

First Foundation stock opened at $5.30 on Tuesday. First Foundation has a fifty-two week low of $4.42 and a fifty-two week high of $8.52. The company has a market capitalization of $436.65 million, a PE ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Institutional Trading of First Foundation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFWM. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its position in First Foundation by 182.7% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 4,386,861 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,835,000 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP lifted its position in shares of First Foundation by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 4,153,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,796,000 after acquiring an additional 63,621 shares in the last quarter. Fortress Investment Group LLC boosted its position in First Foundation by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortress Investment Group LLC now owns 4,038,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,081,000 after acquiring an additional 714,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Foundation by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,824,803 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,752,000 after buying an additional 774,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Foundation by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,368,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,711,000 after acquiring an additional 379,288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.