Raymond James upgrades First Financial to 'outperform' from 'market perform'

First Financial

12/04/2022 12:32

** Raymond James upgrades First Financial Corporation
 THFF.O  to 'outperform' from 'market perform'; brokerage's PT
of $49 implies upside of ~17.8% on stock's last close 
    ** Says it expects co to benefit from higher asset
sensitivity and an improvement in organic loan growth 
    ** Expects net interest income to grow as the Fed hikes
interest rates 
    ** "First Financial maintains better than peer asset
sensitivity with net interest income expected to increase 5.1%"
- Raymond James 
    ** Adds, a healthy economic backdrop, inflation and hiring
of veteran commercial bankers should lead to improved loan
growth over net few years
    ** Raises 2022 loan growth forecast to 4.6% from 3.2%; also
increases its 2022 EPS estimate by $0.14 to $4.45
    ** One of three brokerages rate stock "buy", two "hold";
their median PT is $49 - Refinitiv data
    ** As of last close, shares down 8.15% YTD 

 (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru)
 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com;))