First Foundation (FFWM) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) is scheduled to announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.01 per share for the quarter. Investors interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.03 million. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.80% and a negative net margin of 31.95%. On average, analysts expect First Foundation to post $0 EPS for the current fiscal year and $1 EPS for the next fiscal year.

First Foundation Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ FFWM opened at $6.36 on Thursday. First Foundation has a 1-year low of $3.69 and a 1-year high of $11.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $7.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $359.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.81 and a beta of 1.23.

First Foundation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total value of $204,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,230,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Foundation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Foundation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,828,844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,383,000 after purchasing an additional 16,820 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in First Foundation by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,286 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in First Foundation during the 4th quarter worth about $1,929,000. Nierenberg Investment Management Company Inc. raised its holdings in First Foundation by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Nierenberg Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 93,555 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Foundation by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 211,670 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 7,228 shares in the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on FFWM shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.50 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of First Foundation from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

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.