THFF - First Financial upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James on loan growth asset sensitivity

Raymond James analyst David Long has upgraded First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) to Outperform from Market Perform, citing potential upside to its asset sensitivity levels as well as organic loan growth. "A healthy economic backdrop, inflation, and the hiring of a couple veteran commercial bankers should lead to improved loan growth over the net couple of years," the analyst wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. As a result, he lifted his 2022 loan growth forecast to 4.6% from 3.2%. Long also pointed to the regional banks' attractive level of excess capital, saying the lender can "leverage its excess capital in an EPS accretive manner via share repurchases or M&A activity," the note read. This comes in addition to its elevated cash balances, which could be deployed to higher yielding assets in the wake of rising interest rates, according to the note. Meanwhile, Raymond James' Outperform rating disagrees with both the Quant Rating

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First Financial upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James on loan growth, asset sensitivity