FFWM vs. ABCB, CNOB, CVBF, DCOM, HOPE, OCFC, SBCF, WSFS, BKU, and KEY
Should you be buying First Foundation stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First Foundation include Ameris Bancorp (ABCB), ConnectOne Bancorp (CNOB), CVB Financial (CVBF), Dime Community Bancshares (DCOM), Hope Bancorp (HOPE), OceanFirst Financial (OCFC), Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (SBCF), WSFS Financial (WSFS), BankUnited (BKU), and KeyCorp (KEY). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
First Foundation vs. Its Competitors
Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.
In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 8 more articles in the media than First Foundation. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for First Foundation. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat First Foundation's score of 0.67 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.
91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.1% of First Foundation shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of First Foundation shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to First Foundation's net margin of -13.94%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat First Foundation's return on equity.
Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. First Foundation pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Foundation pays out -2.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Foundation. First Foundation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 2.54%. First Foundation has a consensus target price of $6.25, indicating a potential upside of 5.49%. Given First Foundation's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Foundation is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.
Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Foundation has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Ameris Bancorp beats First Foundation on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding FFWM and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NASDAQ:FFWM) was last updated on 9/16/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff