First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

A number of analysts have commented on FFBC shares. Zacks Research cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.9%

FFBC stock opened at $26.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $29.21.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.64%.The business had revenue of $234.01 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $308,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,678.80. The trade was a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter valued at $5,714,000. Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at about $5,603,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 47.7% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 559,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,127,000 after acquiring an additional 180,575 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 110.5% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 324,852 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,881,000 after acquiring an additional 170,540 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 66.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 374,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,454,000 after acquiring an additional 149,044 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.