Brokerages Set First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Target Price at $29.40

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.40.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FFBC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $309,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total transaction of $195,944.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,579.20. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 75.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,102 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $25.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.51. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $226.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

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.