First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Separately, Stephens lowered First Foundation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Foundation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.80.

First Foundation Trading Up 16.9 %

Shares of FFWM stock opened at $7.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $519.75 million, a P/E ratio of -6.84 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. First Foundation has a fifty-two week low of $4.71 and a fifty-two week high of $11.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Foundation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFWM. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the first quarter worth $3,819,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,731,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Foundation during the 2nd quarter worth about $563,000. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in shares of First Foundation by 26.7% in the second quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 463,953 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,039,000 after acquiring an additional 97,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in First Foundation in the second quarter valued at approximately $838,000. Hedge funds and other 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.