Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for First Foundation Inc. Reduced by Analyst (NASDAQ:FFWM)

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) – Analysts at Wedbush cut their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for First Foundation in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the bank will post earnings per share of $0.09 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.10. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Foundation’s current full-year earnings is $0.29 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for First Foundation’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.10 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.40 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.18 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.22 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.25 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.29 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $0.95 EPS.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded shares of First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $9.50 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th.

First Foundation Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of FFWM stock opened at $7.44 on Thursday. First Foundation has a 12 month low of $3.69 and a 12 month high of $11.47. The company has a market cap of $420.14 million, a PE ratio of 22.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.46.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. First Foundation had a negative net margin of 31.95% and a positive return on equity of 1.80%. The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.03 million.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,230,622 shares in the company, valued at $10,041,875.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Foundation

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 8.1% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,267,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,411,000 after buying an additional 321,560 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 3.1% during the fourth 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. boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,828,844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,383,000 after buying an additional 16,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 6.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,471,899 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,416,000 after buying an additional 153,418 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,851,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,538,000 after buying an additional 47,717 shares during the period. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.