First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.51 Per Share

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.51 per share by the bank on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from First Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

First Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 13.7% annually over the last three years. First Financial has a payout ratio of 34.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Financial to earn $5.18 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 34.7%.

First Financial Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ THFF opened at $46.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.15 and a 200 day moving average of $43.17. First Financial has a 12-month low of $34.58 and a 12-month high of $51.87. The stock has a market cap of $550.37 million, a PE ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of First Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday.

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.