First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) Announces Earnings Results

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.08, Zacks reports. First Financial had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 8.10%.

First Financial Price Performance

Shares of THFF opened at $50.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $590.50 million, a P/E ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.50. First Financial has a fifty-two week low of $34.58 and a fifty-two week high of $51.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.33.

First Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from First Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. First Financial’s payout ratio is 55.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James upgraded shares of First Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research 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.