THFF
First Financial Corporation (THFF) Economic Moat Analysis (2026)
Overall Score
Scale Market Position
Community bank with a sub-$1B market cap and $975.8M market value, limiting scale advantages versus larger peers.
Revenue base remains modest, with price-to-sales at 2.95x and enterprise value to sales at 4.47x, suggesting a stable but not dominant franchise.
Pricing Power Margins
Gross margin is high at 78.3%, and operating margin remains solid at 28.5%, indicating decent pricing discipline for a bank.
Net margin of 25.6% supports a respectable earnings profile, though the business still looks more efficient than uniquely advantaged.
Customer Stickiness Franchise Stability
Receivables turnover of 11.7x and a 31.2-day operating cycle point to steady customer activity rather than exceptional lock-in.
A strong current ratio of 4.17x and cash ratio of 0.31x suggest liquidity support, but not a clear moat by themselves.
Capital Efficiency Returns
Return on equity of 13.0% and return on invested capital of 5.1% indicate acceptable but not standout capital efficiency.
Asset returns remain low, with ROA at 1.37% and operating ROA at 1.53%, which tempers the moat assessment.
Balance Sheet Resilience
Debt-to-equity of 0.89x and debt-to-assets of 9.7% show manageable leverage for a bank.
Interest coverage of 1.22x and net debt to EBITDA of 5.04x are workable but not especially strong, limiting financial flexibility.
Valuation Support For Moat
Valuation is reasonable with P/E at 11.5x, P/B at 1.44x, and free cash flow yield at 9.8%, which supports the current franchise quality.
The market appears to be pricing THFF as a steady regional bank rather than a high-moat compounder.
Sources
- Company filings (10-K, 10-Q, investor presentations)
- Financial and market data providers
- Public news and industry information
🔒 Go Beyond This Framework
This is one of 10 institutional-grade frameworks Invetso runs on First Financial Corporation. Unlock the complete analysis — SWOT, Economic Moat, Porter’s Five Forces, Management, PESTLE and the Invetso Quality Score.

