Weiss Ratings Reiterates “Buy (B-)” Rating for First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)‘s stock had its “buy (b-)” rating restated by Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $30.00 price target on First Financial Bancorp. and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.83.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $25.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $31.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.52 and its 200 day moving average is $24.59.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 19.41%.The company had revenue of $226.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $309,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total value of $195,944.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3,493.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 38,020 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 36,962 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 42,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,905 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter valued at $404,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,956 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 203,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,078,000 after purchasing an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.