Citigroup Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM) by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,900 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 25,095 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.07% of First Foundation worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in First Foundation by 77.6% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,388 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in First Foundation in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in First Foundation by 461.6% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,322 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 8,484 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the second quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of First Foundation in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Ulrich E. Keller, Jr. sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FFWM shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Foundation from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $9.50 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush increased their price objective on First Foundation from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

First Foundation Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFWM opened at $7.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. First Foundation Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.69 and a fifty-two week high of $11.47. The stock has a market cap of $420.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.11 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $8.34 and its 200 day moving average price 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.03 million. First Foundation had a negative net margin of 31.95% and a positive return on equity of 1.80%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Foundation Inc. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Foundation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. First Foundation’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.14%.

First Foundation Profile

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.