Blair William & Co. IL Makes New Investment in First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF)

Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in shares of First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 8,220 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in First Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of First Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in First Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Financial during the fourth quarter worth $205,000. 72.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

THFF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded First Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Financial in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

First Financial Price Performance

First Financial stock opened at $43.87 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $519.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.49. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $34.58 and a 52-week high of $53.60.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.08. First Financial had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 8.77%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. First Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James O. Mcdonald bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $48.99 per share, with a total value of $48,990.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,543.38. The trade was a 11.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Allen Franklin purchased 1,100 shares of First Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.53 per share, for a total transaction of $57,783.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 9,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,157.85. This trade represents a 12.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,195 shares of company stock worth $111,625. 3.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.