Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Stock Position in First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in shares of First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFFFree Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,739 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.12% of First Financial worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in First Financial by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 18,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial by 19.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 190,126 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,012,000 after purchasing an additional 30,986 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Financial by 0.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 729,676 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,910,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in First Financial by 6.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 127,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 7,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 40,726 shares during the last quarter. 72.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:THFF opened at $47.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.71 and its 200 day moving average is $44.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $561.45 million, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.51. First Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.58 and a fifty-two week high of $51.87.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFFGet Free Report) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $82.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.95 million. First Financial had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 14.86%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Co. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from First Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. First Financial’s payout ratio is 55.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, 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.

Read Our Latest Research Report on First Financial

First Financial Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF)

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