First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $54.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

First Financial Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ THFF opened at $46.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. First Financial has a 12 month low of $34.58 and a 12 month high of $51.87. The company has a market cap of $550.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.22.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.17). First Financial had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $82.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.95 million. Sell-side analysts predict that First Financial will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. This is a boost from First Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. First Financial’s payout ratio is presently 48.78%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in First Financial by 420.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $279,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in First Financial by 29.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.74% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial

First Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services. The company offers non-interest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, savings, time, and other time deposits. It also provides commercial loans primarily to expand a business or finance asset purchases; residential real estate and residential real estate construction loans; and home equity loans and lines, secured loans, and cash/CD secured and unsecured loans.