Reviewing First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) and Blue Ridge Bankshares (NASDAQ:BRBS)

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) and Blue Ridge Bankshares (NASDAQ:BRBS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for First Foundation and Blue Ridge Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Foundation	0	4	1	0	2.20
Blue Ridge Bankshares	0	0	0	0	N/A

First Foundation presently has a consensus target price of $7.80, indicating a potential upside of 28.29%. Given First Foundation’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Foundation is more favorable than Blue Ridge Bankshares.

Dividends

First Foundation pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Blue Ridge Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.6%. First Foundation pays out -1.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Blue Ridge Bankshares pays out -13.4% 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. Blue Ridge Bankshares has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Blue Ridge Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.1% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.5% of Blue Ridge Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of First Foundation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Blue Ridge Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Foundation and Blue Ridge Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Foundation	$160.77 million	2.14	-$199.06 million	($3.66)	-1.66
Blue Ridge Bankshares	$104.04 million	0.62	-$51.77 million	($3.66)	-0.76

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

Volatility and Risk

First Foundation has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blue Ridge Bankshares has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Foundation and Blue Ridge Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Foundation	1.34%	1.07%	0.07%
Blue Ridge Bankshares	-32.61%	-28.09%	-1.98%

Summary

First Foundation beats Blue Ridge Bankshares on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Foundation

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. The company also provides various specialized services comprising trust services, online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture services, merchant credit card services, ATM cards, Visa debit cards, and business sweep accounts, as well as insurance brokerage services and equipment financing solutions. In addition, it offers investment management and financial planning services; financial, investment, and economic advisory and related services; and treasury management services, such as bill pay, check/payee/ACH positive pay, wire origination, internal and external transfers, account reconciliation reporting, mobile deposit, lockbox, cash vault services and merchant processing. Further, the company provides support services, including the processing and transmission of financial and economic data for charitable organizations. It operates through a network of branch offices and loan production offices. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Blue Ridge Bankshares

Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Blue Ridge Bank, National Association that provides commercial and consumer banking, and financial services. It operates through: Commercial Banking and Mortgage Banking segments. The company accepts checking, savings, money market, cash management, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, home equity, consumer installment, and guaranteed government loans; and residential mortgage loans and mortgages loans on real estate. In addition, it provides wire, direct deposit payroll, remote deposit, electronic statement, and other services; and property and casualty insurance products to individuals and businesses, as well as online, mobile, and telephone banking services. Further, the company offers employee benefit plans and administration services; management services for personal and corporate trusts, including estate planning and settlement, and trust administration, investment and wealth management services. It operates in Callao, Charlottesville, Chester, Colonial Heights, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Gordonsville, Harrisonburg, Hartfield, Henrico, Kilmarnock, Louisa, Luray, Martinsville, Midlothian, Mineral, Montross, Orange, Petersburg, Richmond, Shenandoah, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Warsaw, and White Stone, Virginia; and Greensboro, North Carolina. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia.