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

First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the bank on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st.

First Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 13.7% annually over the last three years. First Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 35.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Financial to earn $5.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.3%.

First Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ THFF opened at $43.16 on Friday. First Financial has a 1 year low of $31.74 and a 1 year high of $47.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.35 and a 200 day moving average of $39.38. The stock has a market cap of $509.72 million, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.47.

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The firm had revenue of $70.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.95 million. First Financial had a net margin of 18.22% and a return on equity of 9.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Financial from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

First Financial Company 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.