First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Hovde Group Analyst Says

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Hovde Group from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Hovde Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.30% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.33.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.2%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $28.74 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $29.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.34.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,670 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 27,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

More First Financial Bancorp. News

Here are the key news stories impacting First Financial Bancorp. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hovde Group raised its price target from $32 to $34 and assigned an “outperform” rating, signaling stronger analyst conviction and ~18% upside to the new target from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target from $31 to $32 and maintained a “market perform” rating, adding incremental analyst support for the shares. KBW raises price target to $32 (TickerReport)
• Positive Sentiment: Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 (annualized yield ~3.5%), reinforcing cash return to shareholders and supporting income-oriented investor interest.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results: FFBC reported record EPS ($0.80), beating estimates and showing margin strength; management highlighted synergies from recent acquisitions. First Financial Posts Record Earnings, Eyes Synergies (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: Management set a 2026 organic loan-growth target of 6%–8% as integration of acquisitions advances — a clear growth objective that supports revenue and net-interest-income outlook. First Financial outlines 6%–8% loan growth target (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and highlights are available for deeper color on guidance, expense synergies and loan pipeline; useful for investors modeling forward quarters. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and screens (e.g., dividend-focused write-ups) are spotlighting FFBC as an income candidate, which may attract longer-term dividend investors but has mixed short-term impact. Dividend-focused coverage (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue slightly missed Q4 estimates, which could temper near-term momentum despite the EPS beat — investors may be watching upcoming quarters for confirmation of revenue and loan-growth targets. FFBC Misses Q4 Revenue Estimates (Yahoo Finance)

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.