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

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) – Stock analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for First Foundation in a research report issued 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 has a “Neutral” rating and a $11.00 price target 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.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.80% and a negative net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.03 million.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

First Foundation Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFWM opened at $7.44 on Thursday. First Foundation has a twelve month low of $3.69 and a twelve month high of $11.47. The firm has a market cap of $420.14 million, a PE ratio of 22.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.34 and a 200-day moving average of $7.46.

First Foundation Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of First Foundation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total transaction of $204,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,230,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,041,875.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Foundation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFWM. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in First Foundation by 877.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,591,983 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,860,000 after buying an additional 1,429,037 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Foundation by 270.6% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,090,497 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 796,270 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of First Foundation by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,817,772 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,735,000 after purchasing an additional 691,494 shares during the last quarter. rhino investment partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,629,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Foundation by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,506,062 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,872,000 after purchasing an additional 517,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.