Short interest in First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF) fell 27.0% in November.

At First Financial Co. (NASDAQ:THFF), the number of shares that were sold short decreased by a sizeable amount during the month of November. As of the 15th of November, there were a total of 106,100 shares that were subject to short interest, but as of the 30th of November, there were only 77,400 shares that were subject to short interest. The current short-interest ratio is 2.1 days, and this number was calculated by taking into account the fact that an average of 37,600 shares are traded each and every day. Short sales account for approximately 0.7% of the total number of shares that are outstanding in the company.

In a report that was made available to the public on October 25, First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) detailed its performance for the past three months. The financial institution reported earnings per share for the period of $1.50, which is $0.11 more than the analysts’ consensus projection of $1.39 per share for earnings per share. Both the return on equity and the net margin for First Financial came in at 13.39%, and the net margin for the company was 28.59%. The company’s sales for the quarter came in at $55.24 million, which is significantly higher than the industry analysts’ projection of $53.35 million for the company’s sales. First Financial will close out the current fiscal year with earnings of 5.76 cents per share, as is the general consensus among professionals in the relevant field.
In addition to this, the company has just recently announced that it will not be paying any dividends for the year, and the payment is scheduled to be distributed on January 13. Investors who are currently registered will be entitled to a dividend payment of $0.74 per share, which will be distributed on Friday, January 6th. This dividend will either be paid out or not on January 5th, as that is the date that will be used to make the decision. Because of this, the dividend yield amounts to 2.2% of the total value. At the moment, First Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 21.51 percent.

The price of NASDAQ:THFF dropped by $0.06 during Wednesday’s trading session at midday, bringing it to $46.30. There were only 33 transactions involving the stock, which is a significantly lower number than the typical 62,465 trades. The price of First Financial shares hit a low of $41.50 over the past year, while they reached a high of $49.90 over the same time period. The moving average for the stock over the past 50 days is $47.71, and the moving average over the past 200 days is, respectively, $46.42. When all three ratios reach a level of 0.73, the quick ratio, the current ratio, and the debt-to-equity ratio are all equal to one another. Both the price-to-earnings ratio of the company, which is 9.24, and the beta of the stock, which is 0.59, are very high. The stock is currently valued at $556.62 million on the market.

Separately, in a research report that was published on November 11th, StockNews.com downgraded First Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating. The previous rating for First Financial was “strong buy.”

In other news pertaining to First Financial, on December 8th, William Curtis Brighton, a director of the company, bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock. This is just one of the recent developments regarding the company. The cost of purchasing all of the shares came to $46,870.00, which was arrived at by multiplying the average price paid per share, which was $46.87, by the number of shares purchased. The director will become the owner of 19,000 shares of the company once the transaction is finalized. Based on the current market price, these shares are worth a total of $890,530. You might find a filing that explains the transaction in greater detail on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the most recent quarter, those with knowledge of the company’s inner workings have acquired 1,312 shares of stock with a combined value of $61,901. The company’s management and employees collectively own 3.41% of the company’s total shares of stock.