AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ:FFWM - Free Report) by 65.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253,119 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 100,070 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.45% of First Foundation worth $1,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FFWM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Foundation by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,859,870 shares of the bank's stock valued at $21,592,000 after buying an additional 31,026 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Foundation by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,096 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,294,000 after acquiring an additional 24,440 shares in the last quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP increased its holdings in First Foundation by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 742,355 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,186,000 after acquiring an additional 187,182 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in First Foundation in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,819,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in First Foundation by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 500,490 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares during the period. 73.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Foundation Price Performance

NASDAQ FFWM traded up $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $6.81. 434,565 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 612,477. The stock has a market cap of $384.85 million, a PE ratio of -1.86 and a beta of 1.32. First Foundation Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.41 and a 12 month high of $11.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $164.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.23 million. First Foundation had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 1.07%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Foundation Inc. will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush lowered their price objective on First Foundation from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens cut First Foundation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Foundation in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson raised shares of First Foundation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of First Foundation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.80.

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.