First Financial’s (THFF) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their market perform rating on shares of First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $43.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their previous price target of $45.00.

First Financial Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of THFF stock opened at $36.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $430.12 million, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.16. First Financial has a 1 year low of $31.00 and a 1 year high of $44.91.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The bank reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.07). First Financial had a net margin of 20.16% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $50.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.10 million. On average, research analysts predict that First Financial will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. First Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in First Financial by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 26,526 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in First Financial by 189.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,895 shares of the bank’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 8,438 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of First Financial by 1,184.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 12,032 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of First Financial by 4.6% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,293 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First Financial during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Institutional investors own 72.74% of the company’s stock.

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.