First Financial Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 (NASDAQ:THFF)

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the bank on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st.

First Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 13.7% annually over the last three years. First Financial has a payout ratio of 35.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect First Financial to earn $5.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.3%.

First Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:THFF opened at $46.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.69 million, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. First Financial has a 12-month low of $31.74 and a 12-month high of $47.00.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. The business had revenue of $70.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.95 million. First Financial had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 18.22%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Financial from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

First Financial Company Profile

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.