First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 52,100 shares, a decrease of 16.4% from the December 15th total of 62,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 50,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Raymond James upgraded First Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

First Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

THFF traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $46.16. 33,471 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,939. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.47. First Financial has a 1 year low of $34.58 and a 1 year high of $51.87. 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 firm has a market cap of $545.09 million, a P/E ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.51.

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

First Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from First Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. First Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.28%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dean Investment Associates LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,856,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Financial by 15.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 302,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,150,000 after acquiring an additional 40,726 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial by 81.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 73,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 32,783 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of First Financial by 19.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 190,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,012,000 after acquiring an additional 30,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First Financial by 10.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 230,332 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,100,000 after purchasing an additional 22,287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.