Quest Partners LLC Buys New Position in First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 45,485 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000. Quest Partners LLC owned 0.08% of First Foundation at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FFWM. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in First Foundation by 77.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 9,463 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in First Foundation by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,946 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in First Foundation by 49.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,926 shares of the bank’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 8,888 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of First Foundation by 62.9% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 29,417 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in First Foundation in the third quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Foundation

In other First Foundation news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.16, for a total value of $204,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,230,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,041,875.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

First Foundation Price Performance

Shares of FFWM traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5.92. 201,257 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,514. The company has a market capitalization of $334.54 million, a PE ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.55. First Foundation Inc. has a one year low of $3.69 and a one year high of $11.47.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. First Foundation had a positive return on equity of 1.11% and a negative net margin of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $51.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.93 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Foundation Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded First Foundation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of First Foundation in a report on Wednesday.

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.