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

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their market perform rating on shares of First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $43.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $45.00.

First Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

THFF stock opened at $37.65 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.15. The company has a market capitalization of $444.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.52. First Financial has a 52 week low of $31.00 and a 52 week high of $44.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

First Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. First Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Financial Corp IN grew its position in First Financial by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 735,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,651,000 after acquiring an additional 35,940 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Financial by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 703,304 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,264,000 after purchasing an additional 38,360 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Financial by 12.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 204,670 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,920,000 after buying an additional 22,582 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in First Financial by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 35,943 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after buying an additional 6,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of First Financial by 7.7% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 26,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during 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.