First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Raymond James

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $54.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Raymond James’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.39% from the company’s previous close.

First Financial Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:THFF opened at $46.00 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.08. First Financial has a 1 year low of $34.58 and a 1 year high of $51.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $543.17 million, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.50.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.17). First Financial had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 14.86%. The company had revenue of $82.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.95 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Financial will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial by 420.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of First Financial in the third quarter worth about $230,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First Financial in the third quarter worth about $279,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. 72.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.