Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,109 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $605,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of First Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in First Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Financial in the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

THFF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of First Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered First Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of First Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial news, insider Mark Allen Franklin bought 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.53 per share, with a total value of $57,783.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,845 shares in the company, valued at $517,157.85. This trade represents a 12.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James O. Mcdonald bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.99 per share, with a total value of $48,990.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $463,543.38. This trade represents a 11.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 2,775 shares of company stock worth $139,480. 3.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:THFF traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,494. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. First Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.61 and a fifty-two week high of $53.60. The company has a market capitalization of $603.10 million, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 0.41.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $62.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.04 million. First Financial had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 8.77%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Financial Co. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. First Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.16%.

First Financial Profile

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.