Azora Capital LP Sells 3,282,358 Shares of First Foundation Inc. $FFWM

Key Points

• Azora Capital LP significantly reduced its stake in First Foundation Inc. by 79%, now owning 871,559 shares after selling 3,282,358 shares during the quarter.
• Equities research analysts have issued mixed ratings on First Foundation, with one buy rating and two hold ratings, presenting a consensus price target of $6.25.
• As of the latest update, First Foundation stock is trading at $5.97, reflecting a market cap of $491.84 million, with a 52-week low of $4.41 and a high of $8.52.

Azora Capital LP reduced its stake in shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM - Free Report) by 79.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 871,559 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,282,358 shares during the quarter. Azora Capital LP owned about 1.06% of First Foundation worth $4,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FFWM. Fortress Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of First Foundation by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortress Investment Group LLC now owns 4,038,750 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,081,000 after purchasing an additional 714,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of First Foundation by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,368,965 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,711,000 after purchasing an additional 379,288 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Foundation by 8.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,141,752 shares of the bank's stock valued at $21,496,000 after purchasing an additional 316,949 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Foundation during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,166,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of First Foundation by 13.7% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,452,919 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,541,000 after purchasing an additional 175,300 shares during the last quarter. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on FFWM shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Foundation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $7.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.25.

First Foundation Trading Up 1.9%

FFWM stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $5.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 637,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 725,742. First Foundation Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.41 and a 52 week high of $8.52. The stock has a market cap of $491.84 million, a PE ratio of -4.46 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $5.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.16.

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.