Insider Buying: First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) Director Buys 463 Shares of Stock

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) Director Mark Jason Sr Blade, Sr. acquired 463 shares of First Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $42.60 per share, for a total transaction of $19,723.80. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,006.40. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

First Financial Price Performance

THFF opened at $43.93 on Wednesday. First Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $34.50 and a twelve month high of $47.00. The firm has a market cap of $518.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.57.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $82.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.95 million. First Financial had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.86%. Equities research analysts expect that First Financial Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. First Financial’s payout ratio is 48.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Financial from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Institutional Trading of First Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Financial by 0.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 729,676 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,910,000 after buying an additional 4,662 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $11,150,000 after purchasing an additional 40,726 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in First Financial by 19.5% in 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. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in First Financial by 6.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 127,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after acquiring an additional 7,828 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in First Financial by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 125,553 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,811,000 after buying an additional 13,278 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.