First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) Brief Interest Update

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ: THFF – Get a rating) experienced a significant drop in short-term interest during the month of September. As of September 30, there was short interest totaling 154,800 shares, down 15.9% from the total of 184,100 shares as of September 15. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume of 38,600 shares, the day-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional entries and exits

A number of large investors have recently changed their THFF holdings. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in First Financial by 17.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,331,453 shares of the bank worth $57,625,000 after acquiring an additional 193,283 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in First Financial by 6.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 672,335 shares of the bank worth $29,098,000 after acquiring an additional 42,849 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in First Financial by 42.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 524,197 shares of the bank worth $22,687,000 after acquiring an additional 156,091 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in First Financial by 0.4% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 330,657 shares of the bank worth $14,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc increased its stake in First Financial by 12.0% during the second quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 275,214 shares of the bank worth $12,247,000 after acquiring an additional 29,512 shares during the period. 73.98% of the shares are held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

THFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com launched coverage on First Financial in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James downgraded First Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market performer” rating and set a price target of $50.00 for the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 7.

First price financial performance

Shares of THFF opened at $47.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $571.30 million, a price-earnings ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. First Financial has a one-year minimum of $41.50 and a one-year maximum of $49.00. The stock’s fifty-day moving average is $46.71 and its 200-day moving average is $45.05.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF – Get a rating) last released its quarterly results on Tuesday, July 26. The bank reported EPS of $1.27 for the quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of $1.07 by $0.20. The company posted revenue of $50.74 million for the quarter, versus analyst estimates of $48.50 million. First Financial had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 29.19%. Equity analysts expect First Financial to post EPS of 5.77 for the current year.

Profile of the first financial company

(Get a rating)

First Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services. It offers non-interest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, savings, term and other term deposits. The company 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 spreads, secured loans, and secured and unsecured cash/CD loans.

See also

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