First Financial Co. (THFF) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 1st

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.51 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st.

First Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 20.6% per year over the last three years. First Financial has a payout ratio of 35.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Financial to earn $5.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

First Financial Stock Performance

Shares of THFF stock opened at $49.35 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.08. The company has a market cap of $584.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.49. First Financial has a 12-month low of $34.58 and a 12-month high of $53.60.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.08. First Financial had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 8.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Financial will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Financial

In related news, Director James O. Mcdonald purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $48.99 per share, with a total value of $48,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,543.38. This represents a 11.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Allen Franklin acquired 1,100 shares of First Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.53 per share, for a total transaction of $57,783.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,157.85. This represents a 12.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 2,195 shares of company stock valued at $111,625 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on THFF shares. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of First Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of First Financial in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James raised First Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

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.