Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Holdings in First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,150 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,890 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of First Financial worth $746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of THFF. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of First Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of First Financial in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Financial in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial by 420.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.74% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of THFF stock opened at $44.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.43. First Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $34.61 and a 52-week high of $53.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.21 million, a PE ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NASDAQ:THFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. First Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.00%.

Insider Activity at First Financial

In related news, Director James O. Mcdonald purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.99 per share, for a total transaction of $48,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,462 shares in the company, valued at $463,543.38. This represents a 11.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark Allen Franklin acquired 1,100 shares of First Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $517,157.85. This trade represents a 12.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 2,195 shares of company stock valued at $111,625 over the last 90 days. 5.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of First Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of First Financial in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

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.