Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Price

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 28.10% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, January 24th.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $23.42 on Monday. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $20.59 and a twelve month high of $31.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.55.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63. The business had revenue of $201.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.80 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total transaction of $189,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,141 shares in the company, valued at $277,633.72. This trade represents a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,781,000 after buying an additional 72,367 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,362,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,622,000 after purchasing an additional 189,715 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,186,286 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,887,000 after purchasing an additional 328,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 893,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,325,000 after purchasing an additional 24,690 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.