Azora Capital LP Purchases 63,621 Shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM)

Azora Capital LP increased its stake in shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,153,917 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 63,621 shares during the quarter. First Foundation makes up approximately 1.2% of Azora Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Azora Capital LP owned about 5.04% of First Foundation worth $25,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFWM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the fourth quarter worth $775,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Foundation by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 614,147 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 110,323 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in First Foundation by 234.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 167,940 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 117,730 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in First Foundation by 665.3% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,089 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 4,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of First Foundation by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 55,382 shares of the bank's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,722 shares during the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on FFWM. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Foundation from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of First Foundation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Foundation has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.75.

First Foundation Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFWM traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $5.26. The stock had a trading volume of 593,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,799. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $432.94 million, a P/E ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 1.01. First Foundation Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.42 and a 1-year high of $8.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.00.

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.