First Foundation (FFWM) Competitors

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) and Carolina Financial (NASDAQ:CARO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation and profitability.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of FFWM or CARO?

73.1% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Carolina Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of First Foundation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Carolina Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FFWM or CARO?

First Foundation received 3 more outperform votes than Carolina Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 61.54% of users gave Carolina Financial an outperform vote while only 59.01% of users gave First Foundation an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Foundation	Outperform Votes 275 59.01%	Underperform Votes 191 40.99%
Carolina Financial	Outperform Votes 272 61.54%	Underperform Votes 170 38.46%

Which has more risk & volatility, FFWM or CARO?

First Foundation has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carolina Financial has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FFWM or CARO more profitable?

Carolina Financial has a net margin of 27.98% compared to First Foundation's net margin of -11.52%. Carolina Financial's return on equity of 10.49% beat First Foundation's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Foundation	-11.52%	1.06%	0.07%
Carolina Financial	27.98%	10.49%	1.63%

Does the media prefer FFWM or CARO?

In the previous week, Carolina Financial had 5 more articles in the media than First Foundation. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Carolina Financial and 3 mentions for First Foundation. First Foundation's average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Carolina Financial's score of 0.00 indicating that First Foundation is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Foundation	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Carolina Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FFWM or CARO?

Carolina Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Foundation. First Foundation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carolina Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Foundation	$623.04M	1.02	-$199.06M	-$1.12	-6.88
Carolina Financial	$224.23M	3.64	$62.74M	$2.94	11.18

Do analysts recommend FFWM or CARO?

First Foundation presently has a consensus price target of $7.80, indicating a potential upside of 1.17%. Given First Foundation's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Foundation is more favorable than Carolina Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Foundation	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Carolina Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Summary

Carolina Financial beats First Foundation on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.